


home is where your deepest scar is

by prismvtic



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Blood and Gore, F/F, Horror, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Supernatural Elements, ashley is ariana, call me cruel but one of these idiot lesbians gotta go, chris is camila, emily is normani, jessica is ally, josh is ashley, lmfao bitch ally and normally rivalry this will be funnn, matt is zendaya, mike is dinah, nah actually you just gotta wait and see ;), only the ones that really matter are listed, sam is lauren, there are a lot of relationships but there are too many to list
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-02-18 04:09:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 81,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13092111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prismvtic/pseuds/prismvtic
Summary: On February 2nd, 2014, two teenagers named Lucy Vives and Veronica Iglesias went missing. No one knows what happened. The eight teenagers and young adults that were staying with them on Blackwood Mountain couldn't believe what happened either.One year later, Ashley Frangipane invites her seven friends back up to the mountain to continue their winter getaway tradition. The idyllic winter getaway turns sinister in a matter of few hours as threats of a psychotic killer and strange creatures loom. Their only hope is to wait it out until dawn, if they don't die first.(Until Dawn AU)





	1. Prologue: One Year Ago

**Author's Note:**

> i stg i'm so sorry in advance for all the pain possibly caused cause of this fic. these poor dumb girls smh. (i also had to repost it bc it was being weird, but it should be fixed now.)

**February 2nd, 2014 - 2:00**

It was a cliche horror story. Ten young adults and teenagers spent the weekend together on a mountain in a giant-ass mansion. Any movie expert, or amateur, for that matter, could predict that there would be a psycho waiting outside to claim their next victim. Two girls were passed out at the kitchen’s island counter, one girl was looking out the window at the dark, snowy night, two teenagers were hiding in a closet, and four teenagers were talking quietly amongst themselves. No one knew where the last two were, probably off making out to prove that this getaway was, in fact, a horror movie waiting to happen.

They couldn’t be more correct.

A short girl with pigtails and a green olive top moved to place a sticky note on the kitchen counter with a dark-skinned girl donned in a blue racer jacket right behind her. Behind them was a tall, blonde, tan girl with a cocky grin and a brown plaid shirt. A girl with vibrant green eyes and a red and white patterned sweater trailed behind them with a scowl.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe you’re actually doing this,” the dark-skinned girl gasped.

The short girl brought her finger to her lips. “Shh, shh.”

“Don’t you guys think this is a bit cruel?” The green-eyed girl did not look amused. Her friends called her a Debbie Downer for a good reason.

“Oh, come on,” the short girl huffed. Just because she was under five feet didn’t mean she couldn’t be any less intimidating. “She deserves it.”

The green-eyed girl crinkled her nose. “It’s not _her_ fault that she has a huge-ass crush on Dinah-”

“Vero’s been making moves on her,” the short girl interrupted her. The green-eyed girl’s nostrils flared. “I’m just looking out for my girl Mani.” The dark-skinned girl grinned at the shorter one. The two best friends left the kitchen quickly.

The green-eyed girl turned to give the tan blonde an incredulous look, but Dinah didn’t care. She never seemed to think about the consequences of her actions. The green-eyed girl and Dinah took off after their two friends.

“Just because she’s class Prez doesn’t mean she belongs to everyone.” The dark-skinned girl known affectionately as Mani winked at Dinah. “Dinah is _my_ girl.”

“Hey, Normani. I’m not anyone’s girl,” Dinah insisted.

“Whatever you say, darling!”

It was at this moment when the green-eyed girl split off from the group. She decided to be the good friend and warn Vero. “Vero!” Her voice echoed through the lodge as she climbed up the stairs. The short girl rolled her eyes and pulled Normani into the guest room.

In the guestroom, another petite girl in a dark-green beanie burst out giggling and hid behind the partition. A girl with lighter skin than Normani pulled a camera out of her grey hoodie pocket and climbed into the cabinet. The short girl grabbed Normani’s hand and motioned her to climb under the bed. Normani raised a brow. Clearly the space under the bed was not big enough for her perfect curves, but she’d do anything for her best friend. They climbed under the bed and waited.

Dinah took a deep breath and stood in the middle of the room. She adjusted her plaid shirt and crossed her arms over her chest.

The sound of footsteps startle Normani and her friend.

“Oop, she’s here! Shh!”

The door opened. Vero came in with a candle and a timid smile. “Dinah? It’s Vero.”

Dinah grinned slyly. “Hey, Vero.”

* * *

Meanwhile in the kitchen, a girl with brown hair and brown eyes stared out the window. The mountain during winter time was always beautiful. Actually, the mountain in general was beautiful. She tended to like it most during the winter, though. Suddenly a figure caught her attention. Her breath hitched as she tried to get a view of who it was. But just as quickly as she saw him, he disappeared.

“Hey, did you see that? You said it would just be us this weekend. Ashley?” She turned around to look at her roommate.

Ashley was passed out drunk and snoring. Right next to her was her was a short brunette with a mole on her forehead. She also was completely passed out drunk.

She picked up the bottle of beer that was in Ashley’s hand and rolled her eyes. “Jeez, Ashley. You’ve outdone us all once again. When are you _not_ drunk?”

A note caught her attention. She tilted her head curiously and made her way to the sticky note.

“ _Vero,_

_You look so damn hot in that shirt...._

_But I bet you’re even hotter out of it._

_Come to the guest room at 2.00 am. ;-)_

_Dinah_

_Xxx”_

“Oh Vero, what have you gotten into this time?” She shook her head in amusement.

* * *

Over in the guestroom, things were just getting heated up.

“I, um, got your note,” Vero said shyly.

Dinah smirked at her. “Glad you could make it.” Dinah took a few steps forward towards Vero. Her breath hitched as she stared up at the tan blonde. “Maybe we should start with some making out. We’ll see where it goes from there, mkay?”

Vero’s lips curved into a smile. She trailed her fingers across the hem of her purple blouse and reached for the buttons. She slowly undid the top one.

“Oh, hell yeah,” Dinah purred. She licked her lips. “Keep it going, baby. I know you’re really hot.”

With a newfound confidence, Vero began to fully take her shirt off. Everyone in the room could admit that Vero did have a nice set of breasts for such a small size.

“I can’t believe she actually took her shirt off,” the short girl giggled softly.

Unfortunately, Vero heard them. She stopped in her movements and covered up her breasts. “What the-” Her eyes narrowed in disgust. “Guys!?”

One by one, the girls came out of their hiding places. The beanie girl smiled shyly as she leaned against the partition. The girl with the camera had a nervous look on her face. Vero’s facial expression looked pained. It didn’t take a genius to tell that they all really fucked up.

“Zendaya!? What are you doing here?” Vero seethed in confusion.

Zendaya grimaced and placed the camera in her pocket. “Listen, I’m sorry, Vero. This all got out of hand, but...”

Just then the door burst open. In came the green-eyed girl with a frazzled look. “Vero! Vero! Honey, don’t it’s just a…”

Vero let out a soft sob. She looked at Dinah, who did not say anything the entire time during the exchange, kept a stoic expression. “Dinah…” She spun on her heels and ran out of the guest room.

“...prank,” the green-eyed girl finished slowly.

“Uh… damn!” Dinah said, looking slightly puzzled and dazed.

The green-eyed girl glared at her group of friends. “You guys are such jerks, you know that?”

“I’m sorry, Lauren-” Dinah began to say, but the green-eyed was already out of the room. Dinah cursed under her breath and followed after her friend.

“Vero!” Lauren screamed.

* * *

A flash of pink caught the girl’s attention. To the brown haired girl in the kitchen’s horror, there was Vero running out of the lodge. “What the fuck?” she muttered under her breath. She made her way to Ashley and shook her shoulder roughty. “Ash, Ashley… Fuck!”

It was no use trying to wake up Ashley. Once she was passed out, there was no way to bring her out of her deep slumber.

“Guys! There’s someone outside,” she yelled.

She picked up her pace and began running towards the main door. She was confused. Why was Vero outside? She thought she was getting all cozy with Dinah. She even shipped it too. Although Dinah was with Normani, Normani was kind of a bitch.

“What the hell…?” she mumbled as she saw her girlfriend and her friends run outside.

“Vero!” Lauren screamed at the top of her lungs.

She frowned and pushed open the front door of the lodge. Zendaya was standing in the way so she shoved her to the side.

She ran up to Lauren’s side. Lauren turned to look at her. The look of horror on her features frightened her even more. “Babe, what’s going on? Where’s Vero going?”

“Ugh, it’s fine,” the short girl known as Ally spat. She never particularly liked Ally too much. One day she acted like an innocent church girl; the next day she acted like a total alpha bitch. “She just can’t take a joke.”

“It’s just a prank, Vero!” Normani called out.

“What did you do!?” she seethed.

Dinah let out a shaky breath. “We were just messing around, Lucy. It wasn’t serious -”

Lucy gritted her teeth. How could they do that to Vero? They knew Vero was sensitive and tended to be a little naive. If they were truly their friends, they wouldn’t treat her this terribly. “You guys are such jerks!” Lucy shook her finger at her friends. “I mean, come on, guys! Who else was in on this? It obviously wasn’t Camila or Ashley because they’re passed out drunk now. Zendaya? Ariana? L-Lauren?”

Lauren shook her head. “Luce, no. I tried to warn her…”

Lucy blinked her tears away. “I can’t, I have to find her.” She took off for the direction of the woods. But Lauren was quicker, and she grabbed onto her girlfriend’s arm.

“Baby, you can’t go out there alone. It’s dark. Let’s just go inside and talk it out,” Lauren pleaded. Lucy’s expression softened a bit. Her girlfriend did have an amazing way with words. “We can cuddle and wait. She’ll be back by morning. This is Vero that we’re talking about.”

Whenever Lucy was headset on something, she had to get it, no matter what.

“I can’t, Laur, I have to find her,” she insisted.

Lauren sighed and shook her head. “If you say so,” she mumbled. She leaned in and kissed her softly. Lucy’s nerves settled from her lips. “Please be safe.”

“So, are we going after her?” Lucy heard Dinah ask quietly.

“DJ, I think you’re the last person Vero wants to see,” Lauren hissed. Lucy chuckled briefly.

Lucy smiled at Lauren softly and then took off for the woods. “Vero… Vero!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

In high school, Lucy was big on playing sports. She did cross-country in the fall, played basketball in winter, and did track & field in the spring. That was how she grew close to Lauren in the first place. Lauren did track & field, too, and was pretty damn good at it. It wasn’t until then that she realized that Lauren actually was connected to her a lot more than she thought. Her childhood best friend Vero was best friends with her.

Running in the snow woods in the middle of the night shouldn’t have been that much of an issue, right?

Wrong.

“Oh, shit,” Lucy gasped as she slowed down a bit. There were two paths in front of her. One was clearer, but looked longer. The other was shorter, but blocked by several trees. She figured the shorter route would be faster. “Presenting Lucy Vives, number 26, gay athlete, and on a mission to find Vero.”

She sprinted towards the logs, easily jumping over each of them. If she wasn’t so set on finding Vero. In front of her was another to paths. She figured it’d be better if she went for the footprints. Although they looked rather big for a human foot, Lucy was past the point of caring.

“Dammit. Vero, where are you?”

Lucy continued to follow the footprints. Her breathing became heavy and her legs started to ache. No, she couldn’t give out just yet. She stopped at another clearing. It was way too dark for her to see. She shivered and pulled out her phone, pressing on the flashlight icon.

“Vero!?”

Her feet made crunching noises in the snow. A owl hooted loudly causing Lucy to flinch. “Oh, what the fuck?”

Lucy spent the next few minutes calling out Vero’s name. She stopped when her foot kicked something hard. Her eyes widened as she looked down. It was a totem. A demonic figure was carved into it. Its ghoulish fangs and prominent fangs were unsettling. Still, Lucy was curious. She picked it up and looked at it. She turned it around.

An image flashed before her and she saw herself and Vero falling down a cliff to their deaths. Lucy gasped and dropped the totem on the ground. “Holy shit…” She cupped her hands over her mouth. “Vero!”

She took off and ran away. A flash of orange appeared in her peripheral vision and she skidded to a halt. Somebody was out there, and they had a flamethrower.

 _Vero_ , she thought.

“Hello?” Vero croaked out.

Lucy sighed in relief. “Vero, holy shit!” She ran over to Vero’s crouching figure. Her friend had her arms covered and was shivering profusely. Lucy knelt down next to her. “You must be freezing, oh my god.” She took off her pink coat and gave it to Vero. “Here.”

Vero stood back up and sniffled. “I’m such an idiot,” she whimpered. “I’m so dumb.”

She grimaced at her friend’s despair. Lucy made a mental note to smash Dinah’s face in when they got back. “No, baby girl, it’s okay. They were the idiots.”

Something or someone screeched.

Both girls looked at each other.

“Vero…?”

“Lucy…?”

Lucy grabbed Vero’s hand and pulled her away. The pair broke out into a sprint. They had to get back to the lodge and fix things. She’d tell Dinah and the others off and then she’d wake up Ashley and tell her it too. Then after that, Lauren and Lucy could cuddle by the fire and Lauren would go on a rant about animal rights. Next year, Ashley would definitely never invite them again if she knew the truth. That didn’t sound too terrible actually. A weekend getaway except it was just Lauren, Camila, Ashley, Vero, and her. There was no room for drama then.

They reached a bridge. Lucy ran across it, but soon felt a weight being lifted off of her. “Vero!” She cried, running back over to help her friend up. Vero whimpered and helped herself up. They took off running again. Unfortunately, Lucy’s phone fell out of her pocket. Oh well. It was an Android ,anyways.

Lucy and Vero found themselves at a clearing. It was a more like a dead end, actually. They were at the end of a cliff. Vero clutched Lucy’s arm nervously.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Lucy grumbled. “Save us.”

Both of them backed slowly. Their eyes never left the _thing_ that was in front of them. They were so dead.

“Fuck,” Vero cursed.

“No, shit, get back,” Lucy said not-so intimidatingly.

The pair took another step back. Big mistake.

They fell backwards. “No, argh!” Lucy screamed. They were lucky though. Lucy’s reflexes kicked in and she was able to grab onto a branch that hung off the cliff. Vero dangled from below her, holding onto her hand for dear life.

Lucy didn’t know how long they were up there. It sure felt like forever. Her grip wasn’t that strong. Curse her sweaty hands and slippery fingers.

Above them, they heard screeches and whines. Lucy could have sworn she saw flames too. She bit down hard on her lip.

“Hold on, V,” Lucy shouted. “I got you.”

“Fuck, don’t let me go.”

Lucy looked back up. Above them was a man. He was covered in some sort of gear. He actually looked like a psychopath, but he didn’t like he had the intention of killing them. To her surprise, he held his hand out.

There was a problem though. If she grabbed his hand, she’d have to let go of Vero. Lucy considered her options. Vero didn’t have a girlfriend to go back to and Lucy did. Lucy couldn’t die. She had so much to live for.

“Vero,” Lucy said shakily. “I’m _so_ sorry.”

Vero looked at her with wide eyes. “Lucy, what are you-”

Lucy let go of her hand. She let out a loud sob as she watched her best friend scream and fall into God-knows-where. Lucy reached her now-free hand up to grab the stranger’s hand.

The branch snapped.

She fell.

It was all happening too fast for her. Her life wasn’t even flashing in front of her eyes. She tried to think or say something, but she could only think about two things.

A loud crack was heard as her body hit something sharp. That was the last thing Lucy ever remembered that happened to her. Her body rolled down the cliff and landed next to another dead girl’s body, Vero.

No one knew what happened to them. No one expected that what happened this night would cause eight young adults to be tested physically, mentally, and psychologically. And arguably most important to Lucy, no one knew that her last thoughts were about green eyes and the pained look on Vero’s face as she fell to her demise.


	2. Chapter One: Memento Mori

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the narrator in the brackets is supposed to be cringey as fuck so i apologize in advance. it’s just until dawn, yo. B)

**TEN HOURS UNTIL DAWN**

**February 1st, 2015** \- **21:02**

_“Today is the one year anniversary of the tragedy that took place on Mount Frangipane. Sheriff Demi Lovato, who is in charge of the ongoing investigation, is here with is now.”_

_“Thanks for having me, Justin.”_

_“Can you give the listeners an update on Veronica Iglesias and Lucy Vives? The young adults, who are still missing?”_

_“One year ago tonight, the girls left the safety of Frangipane Lodge and headed out into a snow storm.”_

_“Was it foul play? Any reason why they would go out into the woods?”_

_“Not officially, no. There is one person who we’re considering as a person of interest but his whereabouts are currently unknown. He has an interesting history with the Frangipane family.”_

_“But-”_

_“He had warned them against pursuing their construction project and claimed the land was sacred to his forefathers.”_

_“You know, there still is the old Sanatorium on the mountain. Could he be hiding there?”_

_“My officers did search the grounds but… The girls themselves couldn’t have made it that far.”_

_“Ha. Something about that mountain seems to breed tragic events.”_

_“More than you know, Justin. More than you know.”_

_“Well thank you for joining us tonight, Demi. To the Frangipanes, Viveses, Iglesiases, and all of their friends and family on this anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Veronica Iglesias and Lucy Vives-”_

The radio was cut off by a green-eyed with long dark hair swiping it off her phone screen. She looked bundled up and apprehensive. She wore a purple long-sleeved shirt, black leather jacket wrapped with a lipstick-red thick scarf around her neck, grey boots with white trimmings, a tacky fur hat and a red plaid skirt along with black tights. If anything, she looked like a winter goth. It fit, because she felt like death and suffering.

She ripped her earbuds out of her ear. The girl let out a shaky sigh. She was the only one on the bus, but she was pretty damn sure that the bus driver could hear her. There was no way she could start crying now.

Her gaze moved back to the phone screen. In her phone was a new message. It was a video from Ashley Frangipane herself. The girl licked her lips slowly and put her earbuds back in. She took a deep breath and pressed play.

 _“Hey, party people,”_ Ashley boomed with a wide grin. _“Friends and fans. My minions, babushkas, sexy ladies, loyal subscribers to Keeping Up With Ash Frange.”_ The blue haired girl narrowed her eyes. _“Oh fuck, that was cringey. Let’s start that the fuck over. Sheesh!”_

The green-eyed girl bit back a laugh.

Ashley walked up to the camera and zoomed it in. The camera was dangerously close to Ashley’s face. The glint in her eyes showed her amusement. At least she wasn’t too upset over the events.

 _“Alright. Hello, friends and fans!”_ Ashley clapped her hands together. _“It’s beyond dope to have you guys all back this year.”_ She paused briefly and cleared her throat. _“First off, I gotta say I am super excited to invite all of my_ gal pals _back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway.”_

Ashley threw her hands up in the air and cheered. It sounded half-hearted, even with the wide smile on her lips.

_“So uh, let’s address the elephant in the room for a second…”_

The green-eyed girl clenched her fists together. Nope. She was not ready for this.

_“I know you’re all probably worried about me and I know it’s going to be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year.”_

_And the award for Understatement of the Year goes to Ashley Frangipane_ , she thought.

 _“I just… I just want to let you all know that, uh, it means_ so _much… So fucking much that we’re doing this. And I…”_ Ashley paused. Her eyes were starting to water a bit. She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her plaid shirt. _“I know it would mean so much to Lucy and Vero that we’re all still here together. You know, thinking of them, and honoring tradition.”_ A hint of a smile returned to her lips. _“I want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and… share some moments we’ll never forget. For the sake of my bestest friends, you know?”_

The green-eyed girl found herself getting emotional too. It wasn’t just hard for Ashley, it was hard for her too. The two of them really got close of the past year because of that.

 _“Alright, so_ , _”_ Ashley continued brightly. _“Let’s party like we’re fucking pornstars, okay? And make this one trip one we will never forget, alright? Cool, cool!”_

She smiled sadly and turned her phone off. Ashley’s excitement seemed fake and forced. But maybe it was because she was apprehensive. She too was apprehensive about this whole getaway. A part of her told her it was a bad idea.

The bus pulled to a stop in front of a sign that said “Blackwood Pines”. She got out of her seat and made her way to the front of the bus. She thanked the driver and got off the bus. The cold air quite literally hit her like a bus. Whatever preternatural being that invented cold weather should be ashamed of themselves.

She walked to the front of the wooden gate and stepped inside.

 **_(_ ** Now some people may wonder, who the hell is this chick? What’s she doing in front of Blackwood Pines?

The green-eyed girl’s name is Lauren Jauregui. She was introduced in the prologue as Lucy Vives’ girlfriend and probably the only one in the group with any common sense. Considering she was the one that tried to warn Vero, this may be a true statement. Her friends describe her as diligent, considerate, and adventurous. On a similar note, Lauren is notably very brave, charitable, and honest. While those are very good traits, she lacks a lot in the romantic, funny, and curious department. Fun facts? She’s afraid of the supernatural, loves animals, and was voted most likely to become an activist in high school.

Anyways, back to our story. Hopefully she didn’t die during my long clarification. **_)_ **

A loud noise was heard that sounded similar to a gunshot. “Hello? Is someone there?” Lauren asked. To her disappointment or relief, no one was.

Lauren trudged up the the path to the mountain. She sighed quietly. Man, it felt so weird to be back. The last time she went up this path, Lucy insisted on getting a piggyback ride.

No, she wasn’t going to think about Lucy. She had a whole year to get over her. She needed to move on. She _had_ to move on.

She reached the metal gate a few minutes later. Her eyes narrowed when she saw it was closed. Seriously!? Did Ashley forget how to be hospitable? Lauren huffed annoyedly. Her face lit up when she saw a piece of paper sticking out from the gate. She reached over to grab it and read it.

“ _Gate’s busted, climb over!_

_-Camila”_

“If I wanted to be Lara Croft, I would have went to a fucking convention,” Lauren snarled. She took a few step back, considering her options. She could take the safe way up and climb slowly and use a small niche to boost herself up. Or she could just jump and grab the top of the wall and pull herself up, she chose that option.

After hoisting herself on top of the wall and then jumping down. She giggled to herself. “Maybe I’m actually meant to be a top secret agent instead of a conservationist.”

Lauren adjusted her backpack and continued walking.

She heard a rustling in the bushes that caused her to stop in her tracks. Lauren mentally prepared for to worst. To her delight, it was only a squirrel. The cutest fucking squirrel that Lauren had ever seen.

She reached into her jacket’s pocket and pulled out a few of the peanuts that she didn’t finish from before. The girl grinned widely. “Aww, look at you. Are you hungry, little guy?” she cooed.

Lauren knelt down and held her hand out. The squirrel looked at her with its big beady eyes. She grinned and held still. The squirrel moved over to her and ate the nuts out of her hand.

“Cutie,” she purred. “I’m like a fucking Cuban Snow White.”

Lauren got back up on her feet and continued on her long snowy walk.

Now, Lauren wasn’t one to get curious all of a sudden, but when she noticed a huge plaque surrounded by stones. She just had to check it out. Ashley and friends could wait for her.

The sign read:

**INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND BUTTERFLY PROPHECIES**

 

_"Tribes who lived in these mountains believed that butterflies carried dreams and prophecies of possible futures. The color of the butterfly indicated the nature of the prophecy."_

 

Death: **BLACK BUTTERFLIES PROPHESIED THE DREAMER'S DEATH**

 

Danger: **RED BUTTERFLIES WARNED OF DANGEROUS EVENTS**

 

Loss: **BROWN BUTTERFLIES FORETOLD OF TRAGEDY AFFECTING FRIENDS**

 

Guidance: **YELLOW BUTTERFLIES OFFERED VISION TO HELP AND GUIDE**

 

Fortune: **WHITE BUTTERFLIES BROUGHT DREAMS OF LUCK AND GOOD FORTUNE**

 

Right below it was a strange wooden object. She picked it up and examined it. It was a totem with yellow paint accents. The animal looked like it was hoofed. It was either a pig or a horse, she couldn’t tell. She turned it over.

An image flashed right before her. It showed a crow flying away from a tall, tan, blonde girl that was hiding behind a tree.

Lauren decided not to think much of it. Maybe she was just imagining things.

She decided to leave the totem there. Lauren had no use for it anyways. She stuffed her cold hands into her pockets as she continued her journey. To her left was a map of Blackwood Mountain. Unfortunately it was tainted by big red paint that read “THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL” in big letters. Lauren didn’t want to seem paranoid, but that paint sure looked a lot like blood.

“Graffiti has no limits,” she scoffed. “I’m impressed.”

After a few more minutes of walking, she finally reached the cable car station. No one was there. Hell, the cable car wasn’t even there. She sighed in frustration and adjusted her fur hat. There was a big bright light over by the station itself and two benches. One of the benches had Camila’s backpack on it. She smiled widely.

“Camz, are you here?”

She approached the bag. Lauren sighed. “You’re not _in_ the bag, are you? I know you’re tiny, but I don’t think even shortstack could fit in here.” The left side of Camila’s backpack was unzipped and she heard the familiar sound of her friend’s phone ringing. Lauren would never get over the fact that Camila had “All Star” set as her ringtone. She was such a nerd.

“Hello, what do we have here?”

Lauren moved her hand closer to the bag’s zipper. She could look at the phone and see who was calling her friend, or she could ignore it. As a person who hated when people went through her phone, she decided to not snoop. Lauren was not a hypocrite.

She placed her hand on the zipper and closed her bag. Lauren smiled shyly. “Okay, now where the fuck is Camz?”

“Right here, Lolo.”

Lauren jumped up and spun around. “Camila, holy shit!” she exclaimed. Lauren saw Camila a lot over the past year, and she still looked the same as she did a year ago. Her long brown hair was just a little more tangly, but her mischievous grin was still in place. She donned a layered light blue jacket over a green commando-style sweater, blue collared shirt, a white The 1975 undershirt, and dark blue jeans.

 **_(_ ** Onward to our next member of the gang, Karla Camila Cabello. Note: don’t ever call her Karla unless you want her to make a constipated face that makes you question your life decisions.

 _Camila_ wasn’t around during the prologue. Well, she was, but she was passed out drunk at the kitchen counter. She’s Ashley’s best friend and has a huge ass crush on Ariana. Her friends describe her as methodical, protective, and humorous. Humorous is actually debatable depending on people’s opinions. Lauren finds her hilarious while Ashley thinks she should “just choke”. She’s notably funny, curious, and charitable; however, she’s not very brave, honest, or romantic either. A few fun facts about her: she’s afraid of failure, she loves technology, and she was voted most likely to build an app in high school.

Oh, why do I keep rambling? Let’s get back to our dearest Lauren and Camila. _#Camren_ am I right? Sorry folks, they're just friends.  **_)_ **

**21:11**

“Sorry,” Camila apologized with a sly grin. “But that was _too_ easy.” Lauren rolled her eyes at her which made Camila laugh. “I’m glad you made it.”

“Me, too,” Lauren admitted with a shy smile. “I thought I was going to die when I had to climb over the fence.”

Camila snorted. “Bitch, you were on the track team. That should be so easy for you.” She loved teasing Lauren because she got pissed off so easily. The way her nostrils would flare and eyes would narrow was absolutely priceless. Camila swore she could make a billion dollars on a reality TV show that showed Lauren’s everyday facial expressions.

“Anyways,” she drawled. “I found something lowkey amazing.”

“What?”

“I’m not going to tell you,” Camila insisted as she put her backpack on. “Come on Lolo, let’s go on an adventure!”

Lauren snorted. “What are you, eight?”

“Eight and a half, thank you very much!”

Both of them laughed. Camila beckoned Lauren to follow her. She led her friend to an area behind the cable car behind the station. “Where in the world are we going?”

Camila smirked. “Patience, young grasshopper. We will be there soon.” Behind the cable car station was a shooting range. She skipped over to it and struck a pose. “Ta-da! Welcome to the greatest place on earth!”

“Oh my God,” Lauren grumbled. “Are you for real right now, Camz?”

Camila grinned. “Yup.” She picked up a rifle and twirled it. “Look at this beauty!”

“A gun is not at all beautiful,” she remarked. “Also, why the hell is this up here?”

Camila rolled her eyes at her friend. “Oh, Lolo,” she sighed. “Have you ever met Ashley’s dad?” She lifted the gun up and tried to hold it properly. “He thinks he’s Grizzly Adams or something.”

Lauren shrugged. “Whatever. So, are you going to show off your amazing shooting skills?”

“Yes, yes, I am,” she replied, aiming her gun at the targets. Camila had little to no coordination whatsoever. Shooting a gun didn’t involve her feet so she figured that it wouldn’t be too difficult. She tried to hit the target, but failed miserably.

“I don’t think your targets are going anywhere,” Lauren taunted.

She frowned and aimed for the second one. She hit that one easily.

Camila missed the next one and swore loudly.

“Finding it hard to pull the trigger when it’s not in a video game, Camz?” Lauren taunted. She turned around and flipped her friend off.

And luckily she saved herself from Lauren’s taunting when she hit the final target easily.

“Wow,” Lauren hummed. “Mediocre shootin’ Tex.”

“You want to try and shoot this thing?”

“Nah, I’d rather watch you make a fool out of yourself.”

Camila rolled her eyes at her. “Honey, you know I’m bad. I’m a badass!”

Lauren chuckled slowly. “Camz, you still cry during _The Lion King_ , that doesn’t make you a badass.”

She aimed the gun at a bottle. “Oh, bite me, Jauregui.” She cocked the gun and fired. The bottle smashed and made a startling noise. Turning on her heels to gloat, she grinned at Lauren. “See? That right there is hardcore.”

Lauren narrowed her eyes, still unimpressed. “Anybody and their brother can shoot a bottle that big, that close.” She adjusted her stupid fur hat once more. “I think I could do it with my eyes closed.”

A squirrel wandered out into the shooting range. Camila’s lips curved into a smile. She knew just what to shoot. She aimed it at the squirrel, but stopped when she felt like green eyes were throwing daggers into her back. Camila changed her mind and shot the sandbag that rested on a tree stump instead.

“Your ass just got s-a-c-k-e-d!” Camila put the gun down and snapped her fingers in a z-formation. “MLG right here, baby!”

“Alright, Sarge, our ride is coming, so put the toys away.”

Camila pouted. “Aw, I was just starting to have fun too!” She laughed and trotted off towards the cable car with Lauren right behind her.

The pair walked in silence towards the cable car itself. “You know,” Camila breathed out. “It’s so weird to be back after a whole year.”

“Hm, yeah. The moment I got here, everything just came flooding back,” Lauren agreed. Camila noticed that her facial expression was now grim and contorted. When Lucy disappeared, Lauren shut herself out from a lot of people. She refused calls from all of her friends and only talked to her or Ashley. She hated seeing her friend so upset, and she wanted to do everything in her power to cheer her up.

“A year goes fast,” she said slowly. “It was hard for all of us.”

A torn off wanted poster rustled in the wind. Camila raised a brow and took a closer look at it. The man’s name was Edward Sheeran. His height was 5’8” and he was last seen March 13th, 1998. Camila scanned the poster for more information. Apparently this guy was connected to a first-degree arson offense and several death threats. The top half was off, so there was no way that Camila could see who the person was.

“Man, check this out,” Lauren said in awe as she stood next to her.

Camila turned to look at Lauren. She smirked. “Think we’ll get a visit from America’s most wanted?”

“Looks like someone thought so,” Lauren concluded.

She shook her head. “Nah,” she replied. Her mouth twisted weirdly as she turned to walk towards the cable car station. “Nobody comes up here. This place looks as dead as ever.”

Lauren walked ahead of her and tried to open the door to the cable car station. Her forehead creased when she realized it wouldn’t. “Why’s it locked? The fuck?”

Camila shrugged her shoulders. “You know, Ashley doesn’t want people around. She found people sleeping in there once.” She pulled the key out of her jacket pocket and attempted to open the door.

“Creepy,” Lauren mumbled as Camila unlocked the door.

“After you, _mija_ ,” Camila said with an odd accent. She batted her eyelashes innocently. Lauren let out a soft chuckle and walked inside. Camila followed the green-eyed girl and closed the door. The cable car wasn’t there unfortunately.

Lauren sighed in frustration. “Damn, I thought it’d be closer.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

“It _is_ a big mountain,” Camila reminded her.

“It’s so beautiful in the day,” Lauren mused out loud. “But at night it feels menacing, like a sleeping giant.”

“You gonna publish that?”

“What?”

Camila laughed. “Your pretty poem. ‘The Sleeping Giant of Blackwood Forest’. Who needs gay poetry when you have Lauren Michelle Jauregui Morgado blessing us with her moving words about giant-ass mountains?”

Lauren scowled briefly before succumbing to laugher. “God, Camz. You’re so hilarious.”

“I try, I try,” she responded proudly.

Camila decided to kill time by checking out what was in the monitor room. Since no one worked in there in the winter, she figured it’d be the perfect time to look. As she entered, her gaze was attracted to a flyer on the wall that promoted Blackwood Pines’ Hotel and Sanatorium. “What a crazy place to have a fucking hotel,” she quipped. “It’s like the Frangipane family is actually the Italian version of the Trump family.”

“Don’t compare Ashley’s family to _them_ ,” Lauren scolded her from the other room. “And they’re not that rich. They only bought a mountain.”

“This mountain is so big it’s probably worth more than my tuition. Or my life.”

She exited the room just as the cable car came into view.

“Finally,” Lauren said in relief. “You coming?”

Camila shrugged. “Well I _was_ going to catch some Z’s…” Lauren’s glare made her jump a bit. “Er, I mean, yeah, I’m coming.” She sent Camila a satisfied smile and climbed into the cable car. The brunette climbed in after Lauren and took the seat next to her.

The car started up and soon the two began to slowly make their way to the mountain.

“I hope this was the right thing to do,” Lauren admitted. Camila raised a brow, silently notifying her to continue. “I mean, getting us all together on the anniversary? Ashley seemed so excited for us to be doing something. I don’t want to disappoint her. She deserves so much love after all the shit she’s been through.”

“Ash definitely was excited,” Camila agreed. “I haven’t seen her that excited about anything since you took her on that road trip over the summer.”

Camila noticed that Lauren began blushing, and a shy smile was forming on her lips. “Yeah, we had a lot of fun on that.” Her smile faltered once more. “I hope everyone feels the same way though.”

“We’re all here, aren’t we?”

Lauren jokingly punched Camila’s arm. She yelped in pain. “Thanks, babe! Good talk.”

She rolled her eyes. “Alright, let’s just stop talking about the tragedy.” Lauren nodded slowly and leaned back against the back of the bench. “Did I ever tell you how Ashley and I met?”

“Uh, no.”

“Okay, so picture this: eight year old Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao-”

“Don’t have to picture it. She’s right in front of me.”

“Lolo, I will cut you.”

Lauren held her hands up defensively.

“Anyways, Ashley sat in the back of the room. I sat in the front. We didn’t even know we even existed. But the kid sitting next to Ashley started strap snapping the training bra of the girl in front of him. So the teacher made him move to the front where I was sitting…”

“And?”

“I was moved to the back. Duh,” Camila said as she tossed her hair to the side dramatically. Lauren still looked a little confused so she shoved her playfully. “I was moved next to Ashley, dummy!”

Lauren’s eyes lit up in realization. She smiled endearingly at her. “A match made in heaven.”

Camila nodded eagerly. “But just think, Lo! If it weren’t for the fact that Hailee Steinfeld hit puberty like, three years early and on that day decided to wear a revealing shirt that showed off her bra... who knows? You could be in this cable car all alone. Or you could be talking to a different person entirely. Isn’t that crazy?” She clapped and snapped her fingers. Lauren giggled softly at her antics. “Boom, Butterfly Effect.”

**21:17**

Up on the mountain top, a short girl with two Dutch braids was sitting on a bench and swinging her legs as she hummed a Mariah Carey song. She wore a stone blue parka, a purple top over a plain ivory-white undershirt, and dark skinny jeans. A loud cranking sound coming from the cable car caught her attention.

“Boy, oh boy, oh boy. New people, time to meet and greet,” she said with false enthusiasm.

 **_(_ ** Meet Allyson Brooke Hernandez. Most people call her Ally, though.

In the prologue, she was one of the initiators of the terrible prank played on Vero. Because of her idiocy and her desire to look out for “her girl Mani”, she is one of the people at fault for Vero and Lucy’s disappearances. She’s now Dinah’s new girlfriend. Her friends describe her as confident, trusting, and irreverent. Ally’s kind of got two sides, you see. She can be a sweet and kind girl, but if you get on her bad side she can be a total bitch. She’s very honest, funny, and romantic. Unfortunately, she’s not very charitable, curious or brave. Ally’s got an interesting character. She’s afraid of judgement, she loves partying, and she was voted most likely to become famous in high school.

The question is, has her ice cold heart warmed since last year? **_)_**

Ally walked forward, secretly hoping that the person in the cable car was none other than Dinah. She hadn’t seen her in weeks and they promised to walk up to the lodge together to break the news of their new relationship. As she edged closer, her eyes narrowed. It wasn’t at all the gorgeous goddess Dinah. Instead she was met with two gay clowns.

“Oh, what the heck?” she snarled as Lauren banged on the door of the cable car station harshly.

“Ally, hey!” Camila called out hopefully.

Lauren banged on the door again. “Allyson! Over here!”

Ally raised a brow. “Uh, are you guys having a really weird stroke? Because I’m not certified to deal with that crap at all. Go ask my doctor brother.”

Camila frowned. “We’re stuck in this stupid thing. Can you let us out? Don’t be a Scrooge, Ally!”

“It’s not even Christmas, Camz!”

“Oh, shut up, I’m trying to get help from Mexican Elsa!”

“Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao, that is lowkey racist. I thought I raised you better.”

Ally found herself getting more annoyed at the minute. She wasn’t exactly great friends with Camila or Lauren. In fact, she found Camila to be annoying. Lauren was just… Lauren. She figured that Ashley would get pissed if she didn’t let _everyone_ in. Ally sighed in defeat and pressed the green button that opened the door to the cable car station.

Camila strode out confidently and started blowing kisses. Lauren looked particularly unamused at her. “Oh God, I thought we were goners. Another ten minutes in there and I would’ve chewed my own leg off.”

Lauren fake-gagged. “That’s so gross, Camz.”

“You’re right. I barely have any muscle down there so maybe your leg would be easier to eat.”

“Fucking bet,” Lauren spat. Camila snuck up behind Ally and took something from her hand. Ally’s eyes widened in realization. If Camila or anyone else saw the contents of that letter, she’d be done for.

Ally chewed on her lower lip and took a step forward. “Hey! Give it back.”

Camila just smirked and examined the envelope. “Ah, what do we have here?” Ally’s palms started sweating and her brow furrowed as she watched her idiot friend look at the letter. “My goodness. Does sweet Ally have a crush on our good friend and class president Dinah Jane Hansen?”

“Camz-” Lauren protested. Camila held her hand up to try and shush her.

“What kind of sizzling erotica could our innocent Allyson be capable of imagining?”

Ally grimaced. This was not the way she wanted to reveal to the world of her relationship with Dinah. It just felt wrong, especially when she had a falling out with her best friend because of it.

Plus, she refused to be the subject of teasing from Camila Cabello.

Ally pointed at her threateningly. “Give that back, you tool,” she insisted.

“Tool and die, that’s my motto.”

“I can’t believe you.” Ally sighed frustratedly and snatched the letter from Camila’s hands. She also wished she had the ability to wipe the smirk off of her friend’s face too.

Ally crossed her arms over her chest, hugging the letter close to her. “Maybe you Nosy Nancies should go nosin’ in other people’s’ nostrils…” She flushed in embarrassment, only now realizing that she sounded like a complete idiot.

“Come on, Ally,” Lauren persisted with a small smile. “You can tell us. We’re capable of keeping secrets.”

She shook her head. “You’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Alright, let’s get up to the lodge. I’m ready to curl up by the fire like a cat,” Camila suggested, briefly glancing over at Lauren.

Ally waved them off. “You guys go ahead. I’m gonna wait here and see who else is coming.” She smiled brightly at the pair. “It was nice seeing you guys again. We’ll talk more later, okay?”

“We know you’re looking for Dinah, Allysaur,” Camila teased. Lauren hit her arm harshly, which made her yelp out loud in pain. “Alright fine, let’s go, Lolo.”

Lauren briefly looked up at the sky. Her jaw dropped at the beauty of her surroundings, gone unnoticed until now. “Damn, this place is so gorgeous. It’s like I’m in heaven.”

**21:24**

Two girls made their way up to the gates that led to the Frangipane Lodge grounds. One was notably taller than the other. The tall one smiled shyly and opened the gate for the other girl.

“Couldn’t they have built the lodge right where the cable car ends?” the shorter, dark-skinned girl spat. She wore a white blouse underneath a ribbed dark gray turtleneck, a black leather jacket with a fur trim, black jeans, and snow boots with a fur trim.

 **_(_ ** Ah, here we go. May I introduce you guys to Normani Kordei Hamilton?

In the prologue, she was also one of the initiators of the prank along with her best friend, now total enemy, Ally. If you may remember, she was dating Dinah. Now, she’s not. Rumor has it that she’s Dinah’s ex-girlfriend because her bitch levels went over nine thousand. Moral of the story? Don’t even think about getting on Normani’s bad side. Her friends describe her as intelligent, persuasive, and resourceful. She’s very curious, brave, and funny; however, she’s not very charitable, honest, or romantic. Normani has a fear of failure, loves fashion, and was voted most likely to get a job on Wall Street in high school.

I still think her name should be Megabitchmani Korgay Hamilton, but we can’t all have what we want. **_)_ **

“I don’t think it would have been, as pretty, you know?” The tall girl that donned a light cobalt-blue Letterman jacket over a light jean jacket, a gray turtleneck, and gray track pants.

 **_(_ ** Well if it isn’t Meathead or Meatbrain. Kidding, she’s Zendaya Maree Coleman.

She participated in the prank in the prologue and was the one who ended up filming the whole ordeal. Now she’s Normani’s new girlfriend. I can’t tell if it’s an upgrade or a downgrade from Dinah. Both of those girls have their moments. Her friends describe her as motivated, ambitious, and active. She’s very much a jack of all trades. She’s honest, charitable, romantic, and curious. Her only flaws are her lack of humor and bravery. Zendaya is afraid of blood and injury, loves sports, and was voted most likely to play in the NFL/WFA in high school.

I gotta give it to Zendaya though. She might be able to survive full-on contact football with her skills. **_)_ **

“Seriously?” Normani laughed dryly. “We definitely need a bellboy too.” Zendaya blinked in confusion. She was technically playing the bellboy now, considering she was carrying both of their bags, but questioning Normani was a death sentence, so she chose to stay silent.

The pair walked towards the wooden bridge that crossed over the chasm to the lodge. Normani was several feet in front of her because she didn’t have to carry anything. Zendaya lugged her stuff behind her with a soft sigh.

“Brr,” Normani shivered. “I’m getting the chills.”

“Hey,” Zendaya said sweetly. “We’re almost there-”

Normani snorted. “No.” She kicked a bit of the slow on the ground. “I mean… I’m getting a little creeped out.” She let out a shaky breath. “It’s gonna be real weird seeing everyone up here again.”

Zendaya tilted her head. “Yeah, I mean. It’s not going to feel like a regular party-”

“Boo!”

“Jesus Christ!”

“Dude!”

Zendaya and Normani both screamed as a tan, blonde girl jumped out from behind a tree near the bridge. She cackled loudly and made herself visible. She wore a flannel jacket underneath a navy blue padded vest and a pair of jeans.

 **_(_ ** This is the gang’s resident fuckgirl, Dinah Jane Hansen.

She’s had more girlfriends than dinners, it’s a known fact. Because of her involvement with so many women, it caused her a lot of issues. She played with Vero’s feelings, leading to her demise. She broke up with Normani while she were still mourning Vero and Lucy. And now, she’s with Ally, Normani’s old best friend. Her friends describe her as intelligent, driven, and persuasive. Positively, she’s very romantic, funny, and brave. She lacks in the honest, charitable, and curious departments. What else is so special about our Casanova class president? She’s afraid of isolation, loves women, and was voted most likely to run for president in high school.

How many hearts will she end up breaking this time? My money is on her trying to seduce Lauren. **_)_ **

“Dinah Jane!” Normani screamed at the top of her lungs. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Dinah’s laughter only increased at that, making Zendaya clench her fists. “Oh gosh, you guys. You should have seen your faces right there. Z looked like she pissed herself!”

“Dude,” Zendaya hissed, taking a step closer with a tight-lipped smile. “I’m _this_ close to knocking your teeth in.”

Normani shook violently. “Dinah Jane… You are a jerk.”

Dinah’s laughter died down and was replaced by a teasing smirk. “Come on, guys! We’re all friends here. No need for violence, just a little harmless fun. We’re in the woods… It’s spooky. Let’s get into the spirit of things!”

Her girlfriend’s nostrils flared. “Spirit of things!? Dinah, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m just trying to lighten the mood. Don’t be like that, Mani.”

“Like what?”

“The way you’re being,” she explained. “You know… When you get all upset.”

Zendaya’s forehead creased. She should step in. Otherwise things would definitely get ugly real fast. She didn’t want to have them fight. This was supposed to be a good weekend where they could move on from what happened last year. Zendaya promised herself that she would find some closure to the terrible events of last year.

“Hey, uh, Dinah?” Zendaya spoke up timidly. Both Dinah and Normani turned to look at Zendaya. “I’m going to be real here otherwise this whole weekend is going to suck ass for everyone. This is like, crazy awkward, and we all know it too. So let’s just acknowledge it now and move on.”

“Z-” Normani started to protest.

Dinah smiled brightly. “No, I totally get it. I don’t want this weekend to get weird either.”

Zendaya smiled back. “Cool, so we’re good?”

“Yup.”

Normani huffed in annoyance and tapped her foot. “Are you guys gonna make out now?”

The blonde squealed and bent her knees, rubbing her hands over her body like she was pretending to make out with someone. “Oh my God, we’re totes gonna make out!” She stood back up once her ex glared at her. “Nah, seriously, I’m gonna go check the cable car station.”

“Happy trails to you, my dude,” Zendaya said with a salute.

Dinah winked and waggled her fingers. “To you as well, homie.”

Zendaya moved to pick up their bags again. She watched Normani turn to look in the direction of the cable car station.

“Ah, crap,” Normani cursed.

“What’s up, babe?”

“Could you um,” she paused, tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear, “take the rest of the bags up to the lodge? Just like… all of them.”

Zendaya furrowed her brows. “Uh, why?”

“I need to go find Lauren,” Normani explained. Zendaya found herself more confused than before. “I’m sorry I just… I totally forgot that I needed to talk to her before we got all the way up here.”

She frowned at her girlfriend. “Mani, we’re almost there.”

“It’s important, please?”

She ran her tongue over her lip. Zendaya hated saying no to people, especially Normani. At the same time, the woods were dark and haunting. She hated the idea of Normani being out there alone.

“Alright, fine,” she relented, “but you owe me.”

Her girlfriend raised a brow. “What?”

“So we’re even, you know?”

“I’ll think about it,” Normani agreed. She blew a kiss to her girlfriend and winked. “See you later, babe. Thanks for being a good girlfriend.”

Zendaya smiled grimly and made her way up the path up to the lodge.

**21:32**

A girl in a pink and red striped beanie, a blue parka, a light bluish-gray hoodie worn over a long-sleeved red shirt, blue jean shorts and dark leggings, and red fingerless gloves hummed softly as she looked into the binoculars. A gasp escaped her lips when she saw something odd.

 **_(_ ** Introducing Ariana Grande Butera!

From the prologue, we didn’t see or hear much from her, but she was also part of the prank pulled on Vero. I’d say that the only super important thing to know about her relationships is that she has a crush on Camila. She’s also a huge bookworm. Her friends describe her as academic, inquisitive, and forthright. She’s very curious, honest, and charitable. On the other hand, she isn’t very brave, funny, and romantic. Ariana has a fear of the dark, loves books, and was voted most likely to become an author in high school.

That’s all for now, folks! **_)_ **

Ariana adjusted the binoculars so she had a better view. She zoomed in. It was Dinah and Normani standing very close to each other. Normani had a big grin on her face and Dinah looked like she was glowing.

“Well, someone’s getting a little friendly. And not in the friend-zone kind of way.” She giggled at her own joke. “They might need to check the expiration date of their relationship. For all we know, it could still be in full force.”

She zoomed the binoculars out, only to find herself staring right into a pair of big brown eyes.

“Oh, God!” Ariana yelled out in surprise and jumped back from the binoculars. Zendaya stepped around them and made her way over to her.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Ari. I didn’t mean to scare you-”

“Jeez Louise, Zendaya!”

Zendaya laughed nervously, folding her arms over her chest. “Well, I did mean to scare you. But not in the level that you know…” Ariana glared at her. She held her hands up in defeat. “Dang, I’m sorry. Remind me to never piss you off again.”

She shoved the taller girl playfully. “I can’t believe you.”

“Hey,” she protested. “I said I was sorry!”

Ariana chuckled. “Alright, I forgive you. _If_ you carry me to the lodge.”

“Uh, no. I already have to carry Mani and I’s bags and you’re kind of-”

“Are you calling me fat!?” Ariana asked dramatically. Zendaya’s eyes bugged out. “Ha! Gotcha!”

The curly-haired girl rolled her eyes at her. “Alright, fine.” She gestured to the binoculars near Ariana. “So, whatcha looking at? Anything juicy?”

She swallowed nervously. Zendaya would definitely not want to see what was in there. But Ariana refused to be pinned as a liar, she deserved so much more than that. “Uh…”

“Come on, Ari, let me see!”

Ariana shook her head rapidly. “It’s busted. I couldn’t really see anything.”

“For real?” Zendaya replied incredulously. “I bet I could find something cool. Maybe a bear chowing down on something, like a cute bunny!”

When she put it that way, there was a chance that she could _not_ see what was going down between Normani and Dinah.  “Alright,” she relented. “Have a look.”

Zendaya winked at Ariana and took a look into the binoculars. Ariana noticed her facial expression falter as her friend pulled away. “Son of a bitch. Seriously, Normani? What the hell?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Ariana insisted in an attempt to comfort her.

“With Mani, is it really ever just nothing?”

“I don’t….know?”

“Goddammit!”

Zendaya stormed off down the hill and back onto the path. Ariana bit on her lip and bowed her head in shame. This was exactly why she should always keep her mouth shut. She always messed everything up.

**21:41**

Ally was getting real tired of waiting. She had to show up soon. The mountain wasn’t that big and people were coming and going every so often. That was a lie; the last people to come up using the cable car was Lauren and Camila.

She grunted and pulled out her phone to scroll through her messages. Somehow she was still getting signal.

A snowball hit the wall right above her head. She jumped in surprise and stumbled forward, nearly dropping her phone in the snow.

“You did not just do that,” Ally gasped.

Dinah stepped out into clear view. “Put your hands where I can see them. We’ve got you surrounded.”

Ally placed her hands on her hips. “But who am I to retaliate?” She twirled around and giggled. “What choice do I, a young rebel girl have, but to surrender to the strapping military guard come to take me into custody?”

She sprinted towards the bench nearby.

“Sneaky now, are we? Don’t think you can run, Allyson!”

A snowball came flying towards her head. She ducked just in time.

“Zing!” Ally stood back up. “Gotta try harder than that, hero.”

She knelt down and hid behind the bench. Her hands were cold and the snow would probably make them even colder, but she decided to persist.

Dinah’s feet crunched in the show. “Where are you, little bird?”

Ally took that as an opportunity to hit Dinah. She looked up and threw her snowball right at Dinah’s back. Her girlfriend squeaked in surprise. “Bull’s-eye!” Ally cheered and stood back up. In the middle of her little victory dance, she felt something cold hit her chest.

“Bam!” Dinah grinned as Ally looked down at her snow-covered parka. She leaned down and rolled another snowball. Ally briefly glanced to the side as she heard a bird flutter its wings and land on a rock, but disregarded it.

Ally threw the snowball at Dinah. Another direct hit! “Hey, Dinah! Boom shakka-lakka!”

“Okay.” Dinah exhaled tiredly. “You got me… fair enough.” She then beamed, made her way towards a nearby tree, and hid behind it.

“You can’t hide from me, Dinah Jane! I know _all_ your tricks.”

She rolled another snowball and looked around. The same bird from before was perched on the picnic table. Ally smiled. It was a cute bird. She turned her attention towards Dinah’s hair that was poking out from behind the tree. Ally aimed the snowball right at it.

Dinah screamed and bolted from her spot. “My hair! My gorgeous hair!”

Ally giggled. “That’s what you get!” She glanced over to the picnic table when she heard the bird fly away. A smile ghosted on her lips.

Her girlfriend pointed at her and snarled. “You’re going down, babe.”

A tall figure came barreling towards her and toppled over her. Ally laughed loudly as Dinah pushed her to the ground and pinned her. “Gotcha!”

“So did I go down?” Ally mumbled. Dinah wiggled her eyebrows. “Oh, come on. I think you’d know if I did.”

“Alright. Congrats, Smallz, you won!”

“Are we calling it my favor then?”

“You’re a worthy opponent,” she purred. Dinah moved her face closer so her lips were just inches away from Ally’s. “Ms. Allyson the Snowball Queen.”

“That sounds vaguely dirty.”

Dinah winked at her. “My fair lady.”

Ally beamed and leaned up to meet Dinah’s lips. She admitted that they were cold, just like everything else around them. Kissing Dinah always brought a warmth in her that she never thought she’d ever feel. Dinah’s tongue swiped at her lower lip. Ally took that as a sign to pull away. She wasn’t ready for _that_. She didn’t want to do _that_ in the snow, at least.

“Save some for later, buddy,” she breathed out.

Dinah rolled her eyes. “There’s endless reserves.” They stayed there for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes and enjoying the mountain at night. Her girlfriend pulled herself off of Ally and groaned. “We should head up to the lodge.”

Ally nodded, sighing contently. “It’s so breathtaking here. I’m always so amazed.”

Dinah offered her hand and Ally gladly took it.

“I could stay out here forever,” Dinah said shyly. “Provided that we’d be making out the entire time.”

She snorted. “Just ‘making out’?” Her girlfriend nodded. “Yeah, pretty sure we’d freeze to death. Let’s get going, okay?”

Dinah laced their fingers together and led Ally up to the path that led to the lodge.


	3. Chapter Two: Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's some smut in this chapter and the next so if you're uncomfortable with that you can skip those parts.

**NINE HOURS UNTIL DAWN**

**22:00**

“Man, I feel like this mountain gets bigger and bigger every single time I climb it,” Camila complained to Lauren and a blue-haired girl next to her.

“Oh really? It feels the same to me,” the blue-haired girl retorted.

**_(_ ** Here, she is! The woman, the myth, the legend, Ashley Frangipane.

Ashley hasn’t been doing to well since her roommates Vero and Lucy disappeared. She thinks the whole thing is her fault. She’s been seeing her therapist more often and spending a lot more time with Lauren. Not just because she totally has the hots for her, but because Lauren has been a good friend and confidant. Besides that, she’s kept up her jovial appearance. Her friends describe her as complex, loving, and thoughtful. She’s quite funny, charitable, and curious. At the same time, Ashley is not very brave, romantic, or honest. Ashley has a fear of isolation, loves her friends, and was voted most likely to work in the film industry.

All we can do is hope that things will go way better for her this year. **_)_ **

Camila looked over at Ashley and shrugged. Ashley was wearing a puffer vest. She had on the same plaid flannel shirt featured in the video message she sent her over a dark brown shirt. To top it all off, she was wearing a light blue beanie too.

“You grew up here. I bet you feel like it’s shrinking,” she rebuked.

Ashley nodded. “Well, yeah. But you could also be shrinking. You’re tiny, Cabello.”

Camila shoved her friend playfully. Lauren, who hadn’t said anything since they ran into Ashley, scowled and walked a little bit further ahead. Camila couldn’t help but smirk when she noticed Ashley’s eyes move to somewhere that was below Lauren’s back but above her legs. Ashley really did have it bad.

She held her phone up in the air. “Seriously? Ash, you gotta get some cell towers in. I’m getting withdrawals.”

“Do you got a spare million dollars lying around?” Ashley chuckled. “I’ll hook you right up, sista.”

“Funny you should say that,” she tittered. “I think I left it in my other jacket.”

They made their way to the foot of the lodge. Camila beamed when she noticed Ariana sitting on the steps. It took everything in her power to not get super excited when Ariana looked right back over at her and grinned. Man, she was so crazy over her. On the other hand, Zendaya was leaning against the lodge wall and sulking.

“Hey, guys,” Ashley greeted them. “Get up here okay?”

“More or less,” Ariana admitted with a slight shrug. “But it’s great to see you, Ashley!”

Ashley let out a “hmph” and looked over at Zendaya. “Is Z-bird okay?”

Zendaya didn’t say anything in response.

Camila and Ashley exchanged confused looks and made their way up the stairs to the front door.

“Yo, yo! Are we going to get this party started or what?”

“Yeah, ‘hun!”

Camila decided that it was now the best time to ask Ashley about things. “Hey,” she said quietly. Ashley turned to her and raised a brow. “Are you doing alright? I mean it must be really tough without-”

Ashley cut her off. “Stop.”

“I-” Camila tried to continue.

“I know what you’re trying to say,” Ashley spat. “And honestly? I’m over it. I just want us to have a really good time. Just like the old times…”

Ashley attempted to unlock the door. She swore loudly and pulled on it a few more times before giving up. “Damn, it’s iced.”

Camila groaned. “There’s gotta be another way in.” She pressed her lips together. “A window, maybe? We could break it open.”

The blue-haired girl raised a brow. “Wait, are you suggesting that we break in?”

“Ashley, you own this place! It’s not breaking in if you own it!”

“What if I report you?” she teased. Camila choked on her breath and averted her gaze. “I’m kidding, Gaybello. Lead the way.”

Camila and Ashley went back down the stairs. She couldn’t help but look over at Ariana. To her genuine surprise, she was also looking over at her. Both of them exchanged shy smiles. It was now or never. Camila had to talk to her.

“Hey, Ari.”

“Hi, Mila!”

Camila felt her heart rate increase. She was terrible at talking to pretty girls. She tried to tell herself that it was just Ariana. But that was the point, Ariana was even better than a pretty girl. She was her everything.

“So, how are you doing?” she asked as confidently as she could.

Ariana hummed in thought. “Good, but a little cold. I could use some time curled up by the fire.”

Camila nodded. “Yeah! That sounds amazing. Blankets would be nice too.”

Her crush just giggled and nodded her agreement. Ashley tugged on her arm, signaling her to get going. She smiled at Ariana once more and continued down the steps. Camila decided that she should talk to Zendaya and Lauren. She motioned for Ashley to meet her there and her best friend just shrugged and walked off.

On the ground she noticed a small wooden object. “Hm, what do we have here?” Camila mumbled. She picked it up and took a look at it. It was a totem pole that depicted a deer with yellow accents. Camila turned it over.

An image of someone’s fingers caught in a bear trap flashed before her. Her eyes widened and she dropped the totem onto the ground. “Gross.” She shuddered and stalked off.

Camila approached Zendaya, who was now standing near a tree.

“Zendaya! It’s been a while,” she greeted excitedly. “Rough season, huh?”

Zendaya shrugged. “Something like that,” she shot back. Camila was a little taken aback by her cruel tone and winced.

“Hey, you okay?” Camila inquired in a soft tone.

“Some people,” she spat. “You think you know ‘em…”

She took that as her cue to leave Zendaya alone. To be honest, Zendaya was really tall and scary. She didn’t want to be beaten up for getting on her bad side.

Camila made her way to Lauren. She was leaning against the small gate and checking her nails out. Her smile returned to her face.

She was about to greet her, but Lauren beat her to it. “So, have you seen Ari yet?”

“Uh.... yeah?” Camila wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Lauren’s smirk was making her uncomfortable.

“Nice. How’s she doing?”

“She’s fine...” she trailed off. Lauren’s smirk grew impossibly wider. “Why?”

Lauren shrugged. “No reason at all,” she assured her. For some reason, she didn’t believe her.

Camila huffed and walked off, leaving Lauren and her stupid grin alone. She caught up with Ashley. Together they took the back path towards the back of the lodge. Frangipane Lodge was huge. There were way too many guest rooms. Ashley’s rich father probably had to do something illegal to afford all of it.

“Ariana’s looking soooooo hot today, right? She’s like a 'sleeper hit' kind of girl. Now I just wanna rip that parka off of her and make some snow angels,” Ashley gushed, obviously imitating Camila.

Camila found herself to be a little uncomfortable by that. Thinking about Ariana like that made her leery.

“Ew, gross, Ash. I’m not ready for something like that-”

“I mean, if you _really_ don’t want to bang her…” Ashley trailed off. “Maybe Dinah will take up the challenge.”

Camila’s ears turned pink as she blushed. “Ashley, stop it!”

Ashley cackled. “Relax, Mila. I’m just making sure there’s some blood flowing down there.”

“You’re either implying that I have a dick or that I’m on my period,” she deadpanned.

Her best friend rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean, sis.” She placed her hand on Camila’s shoulder. “Listen, honey. Look around you. Look at these beautiful mountains. Do you see any parents? Do you see any old bearded guy with a book saying ‘thou shalt not eat pussy’? I mean, can you imagine a more perfect, ripe scenario, just dripping with erotic possibilities? You, and Ariana, alone at last… you’ve laid all the groundwork, you’ve been the perfect lady. Now you go in for the kill!”

Camila sighed. “Maybe you’re right…”

“You’re a hunter, Camila. Ariana won’t even know what hit her!”

“I’m so done with you right now,” she scoffed.

“Anyways,” Ashley said. “How are we planning on breaking into my parents’ lodge?”

She frowned while her brows furrowed in confusion. “I didn’t say I had a plan.”

Ashley chuckled. “You sure sounded like you had a plan.” She flipped her blue hair to the side. “You better deliver, Cabello, or else you’re going to have six lovely ladies freezing their buns off. Last time I checked, that’s no way to get laid.”

“Do you think of anything other than banging girls?” Camila shot back. “I thought you only cared about getting into Lauren’s panties.”

She felt proud when she noticed Ashley’s face fall and her lips twist and curve until she finally grimaced. “Um, yeah… that too. But Lauren’s different, you know? I want her to be happy and comfortable. I’d do anything to make sure that’s possible.”

“Cute,” Camila replied.

Then, she noticed that there was an axe holder on the wall. The axe was missing. She figured it was because Ashley or her dad used it. She felt Ashley’s eyes on her as well, but she chose not to say anything. Ashley was most likely being impatient because Camila liked to stop and smell the roses. Or, in this case, look at axe holders.

They reached a window that looked like it could be easily opened. The problem was, Camila was way too short for her reach the window. Ashley wasn’t that much taller than her either. Camila noticed that there was a cabinet near the window. _Perfect,_ she thought. She bounced over to the wooden cabinet and began pushing on it. It was an idiot move because Camila had zero arm strength whatsoever.

“Ash, can you give me a hand?”

Ashley laughed. “Yeah, one sec!” Her best friend trotted over to her and assisted her in pushing the cabinet forwards until it was directly under the window. Camila climbed up onto the cabinet and pried the window open. Smiling at her success, she hoisted herself up and into the room. But it wasn’t a truly Camila Cabello success without her tripping and falling on something. She slipped through the open window and fell to the ground, landing on her tailbone, an incredible feat considering she fell face-first.

Camila groaned in pain. “Ugh,” she whined and sat up. She rubbed her back and winced. “I’m okay. I should have paid more attention in climbing class.”

“You mean ‘gym’?” Ashley called from outside.

Camila stood back up and reached for the lightswitch. “Yeah, you know, with the climbing rope? Please don’t tell me I’m the only one of our gang that took Advanced Adventure Ed.” She raised a brow. “Oh, wait, Lauren and Dinah did too. Never-”

She was cut off when the light bulb smashed and immediately darkened the room. Ashley swore loudly. “I thought everything was working.”

“Did I do that?” Camila asked breathlessly.

“I don’t think so?” Ashley reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a lighter. “Here, use this.” She tossed the lighter down to the room she was in. Camila took a step forward and caught it successfully. Her friend’s face lit up in glee. “Hey, I just got a pretty rad idea, okay?”

“Spill the beans!”

“Okay so… I’m pretty sure that I’ve got deodorant in one of the bathrooms. You _could_ use that on the lighter-”

“Wait,” Camila interrupted her, raising a brow. “How’s a stick of deodorant going to help?”

“It’s a spray on, babe.”

Camila’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah! Like a flamethrower or something, you know?”

Ashley grinned. “Just point the spray-can at the lighter and then fwoosh! Bye-bye frozen lock!” Camila nodded vigorously. It seemed like a simple job. Her chances of mucking it up or burning her finger was high, but she didn’t have much to work with.

“Alright. I gotta go sort something out. Do you think you can handle looking for all of that in the dark?”

“Nah, but I don’t have much of a choice.”

Ashley chuckled lightly. “That’s my girl.” She sent her a wave. “Godspeed, pilgrim.”

Camila turned to look around the room she was in. It was the storage room. She remembered going in this room and playing with stuff when Ashley and Camila were kids. Those were the good ol’ days.

Near her feet was another wooden object. Unable to help her curiosity, she leaned down to pick it up. It was another totem. This one looked a lot different than the other one. For starters it had no specific animal design, it just looked like it was a part of a snake. It did have brown accents. She turned it over.

Another image flashed before her. There was a fiery explosion and a girl’s burnt corpse hit the ground. It was Normani. Camila dropped the totem the same way she did with the last one. “What the hell?” she breathed out.

Camila made her way towards the exit of the storage room, but something caught her attention. It was an old newspaper clipping dated back to 1997. The title read “Ex-Janitor Convicted For Arson” and then went onto describe Edward Sheeran threatening the Frangipane family. She pursed her lips. It was the same guy that she and Lauren saw on the wanted poster down at the lower cable car station. _This is all so weird,_ Camila mused.

Camila pushed open the door to the storage room. She found herself in a small hallway. At the end was a family portrait. The petite brunette took a few steps forward and shined the lighter close to the portrait. She couldn’t help but smile when she looked at Ashley’s family. Her father Chris was smiling brightly. Her mother Nicole was also smiling. Ashley admittedly looked very good with jet black hair at that time. Her two younger brothers, Dante and Sevian, looked like they didn’t want to be there.

She exited the hallway and suddenly got an idea. Camila snuck up to the front door. “Wooooooooo! Weeeeeeee!” She squeaked in a high-pitched voice and pressed her face to the window of the front door.

“Hey, Camz,” Lauren chuckled darkly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Very funny.”

“How’d you know it was me, Lolo?”

“‘Cause my dork alert went off as soon as your mouth opened,” she quipped. “Shouldn’t you be getting the lock open?”

Camila’s cheeks flushed. “Oh, uh, yeah.” She turned away and walked back into the foyer towards the bathroom. She wasn’t watching where she was going and ended up bumping into a table near the stairs. “Oh, fu-” A picture caught her attention. Camila bit her lip and picked it up. It was a prom photo from their senior year. Pictured from to left to right were Vero, Lucy, Lauren, Dinah, and Normani. She smiled sadly and turned it over.

_“04-25-13._

_Ready for the Senior Prom! Vero/Lucy/Lauren/Dinah Jane/Normani”_

She sighed and put it back down. Camila made her way towards the dining room. Something else caught her attention. It was an answering machine. Her curiosity overwhelmed her and she also noticed that the light was blinking, signaling that there was a new message. Camila made her way over and clicked the button.

_“One New Message.”_

_“New Message.”_

_“Hi, Mrs. Frangipane - this is Sergeant Tomlinson again. It's bad news, I'm afraid. We've been through the case files, and there's nothing we can do. He's a free man. We don't have the legal power to restrict his movement. I know it's not what you wanted to hear, so call me if you want to know more.”_

_“End of messages.”_

Camila shuddered. “That’s not creepy at all. Who knew that the Frangipanes were getting stalked?” she said aloud to herself.

She decided that she should stop snooping around. Ariana was probably freezing out there and there was no way she could “go in for the kill” if Ariana turned into an ice sculpture. Camila started walking faster until she finally reached the bathroom. Sitting on the counter was a can of deodorant. She smiled. “Alright, alright!” She grabbed the can of deodorant, but suddenly the door of the cabinet swung open and a weird furry creature jumped out.

“Son of a bitch! What the fuck?” Camila cursed loudly.

“Hey, Camila? We’re all freezing our buns off out here!” Ariana screamed from outside.

Camila gritted her teeth and ran towards the front door. She held the lighter up and then sprayed the deodorant towards the lock. Her face lit up in the flames appeared and melted the ice. She stopped shining the light and grabbed the door handle. Big mistake. It was still hot from Camila’s flamethrowing adventure. She winced and pulled it open.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week to sign autogr-”

The disgusting furry creature from before bolted out from under her legs and ran far, far away. “Ahh!”

Lauren and Ariana burst out into laughter.

Camila groaned. “Crap, that thing scared me.”

Ariana smiled sympathetically. “Are you okay? What do you think it was?”

“It was like a bear or a tiger, or something wild like that.”

“Aw,” Lauren cooed. “It was just a little baby wolverine! That’s so cute.”

She snorted at Lauren. Of course she’d get all excited over animals. “Baby? It looked like Hugh Jackman! Which is totally fitting, considering that he plays Wolverine.” Ariana giggled in a way that made Camila want to fall over and die. She was so adorable.

“Don’t you worry, Camila,” Ashley assured her. “Soon you’ll get your big girl panties and we’ll get you out of your little diapers.”

Lauren roared with laughter while Camila flushed furiously. She couldn’t tell what Ashley’s intentions were with her comment. Ashley was either trying to impress Lauren or embarrass Camila in front of Ariana. She guessed that it was most likely both.

Zendaya came up from behind them and the five of them entered the lodge.

“Home, sweet home,” Ashley greeted, stretching her arms out.

“Sweet is not the word I’d use,” Zendaya retorted with a scowl.

Ariana sighed dramatically and took her parka off. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to be inside!” She then shivered slightly. “Even if it’s still kind of freezing in here.”

Ashley laughed. “Not to worry Ariana, my lil’ mama, I’ll get a fire going soon.” She struck a pose and made some sort of awkward-looking gang sign. “It’s my mixtape. So fire, dude.”

Camila and everyone else laughed along with her. Well, everyone except for Zendaya, who still looked miserable.

“This place barely looks any different,” Zendaya noted.

Ashley shrugged and made her way over to Lauren, who was struggling with getting her scarf off. She unwrapped it from around her neck and took off the fur hat, too. Lauren’s face turned a deep pink, and she muttered her appreciation. “No one’s been up here,” Ashley answered as she fixed Lauren’s hat hair.

“Even with the police coming in and out?” Ariana rushed out in surprise.

“Not a lot of action up here,” Camila replied. “I don’t blame them either.”

As they reached the main room, the sound of two people stomping in got their attention. Camila relaxed a bit when it was just Ally and Dinah. Dinah had her arm around Ally and Ally was practically glowing. She couldn’t help but smirk, knowing that her previous suspicions were correct.

“Yo, everyone!” Dinah greeted excitedly.

Ally beamed and nuzzled into Dinah’s side. “Hey!” she chirped.

“You two are chipper,” remarked Lauren.

Ashley came up and clapped her friend on the back. “Make yourself at home, dude.”

“Will do.”

Ariana grabbed Camila’s hand and motioned for her to sit down on the couch. She smiled and plopped down on the blue couch. Lauren took a seat next to her with a knowing smirk. Camila just rolled her eyes.

“Yeah,” Zendaya cut in with a menacing look. “Come on in. Take off your coat. Have whatever the hell you want. You just take whatever you want anyways, right?” she snarled. Ally had a wide-eyed expression while Dinah just looked apprehensive. The blonde took a step back from an advancing Zendaya.

“Woah, easy there cowgirl.”

**22:28**

“What the hell were you doing with Mani out on the trail, huh?” Zendaya demanded. She knew that she just promised that Dinah and her were cool not too long ago. But Dinah broke that agreement when she put her arms around _her_ girlfriend. It pissed her off.

Dinah had the nerve to look confused. The way she pursed her lips and squinted made Zendaya wonder if she was better off being an actress rather than a politician. Politicians were liars. This role fit then.

“What?” Dinah sputtered. “Z, calm down-”

“I saw you and Mani through the telescope! You can’t lie to me now.”

Dinah licked her lips. She exhaled, not all seeming fazed by Zendaya’s glaring. “We just ran into each other, I swear! We have a history together so it’d be rude to, like, ignore her or something, you know?” She crossed her arms. “It’d been a while since we last saw each other, so we hugged and said hello. Is that against the law for you?”

Zendaya swallowed nervously. Dinah was right, as much as she hated to admit it. She couldn’t just expect Normani to not greet her like an old friend. “Right, yeah. I’m an idiot,” she admitted. “Sorry, I overreacted.”

Dinah smiled uneasily. “Nah, chick, don’t worry about it.”

“So, we’re cool?”

She nodded. “As long as you don’t give me that nasty look again,” she teased. Zendaya bit down on her lip. Dinah winked at her and took a seat down on the other side of the couch. Ally gleefully skipped over,  took a seat on her girlfriend’s lap, and cuddled into her. Dinah grinned and brought their lips together. Zendaya had to admit that Ally was probably better for Dinah than Normani.

Speak of the devil, there came Normani herself.

Zendaya smiled brightly at her girlfriend, but Normani ignored her. Her eyes were dead set on two girls on the couch. “Oh. My God. Are you trying to swallow her face whole?”

“Mani-” Zendaya held her hand out.

“Can she be any more obvious? No one wants in on your territory, honey,” Normani continued angrily.

Ally pulled away from Dinah abruptly. She narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me, did you say something?”

“Oh, did you not hear me? Was your sluttiness too loud?”

Zendaya’s jaw dropped in surprise. Ally jumped off of Dinah’s lap and glared at her. “It sounds like to me that this little piggy is bitter that she didn’t make the cut.”

“It’s all a big cattle call with that dreamboat,” Normani spoke sarcastically. “Congrats, you’re top cow.”

Ally placed her hand over her chest and gasped. “Oh, that hurt, I am _so_ wounded.” She pretended to stumble and fall to the ground, but got back up again very quickly. “Cuts real deep to call the Homecoming Queen a cow.”

Zendaya’s forehead creased. “Mani, come on,” she pleaded.

“Shut up, Zendaya,” Normani warned.

“Yeah,” Ally added on. “Stay out of it, you dumb-dumb.”

Normani’s nostrils flared in anger. “Hey, watch it.”

“Oh, you’re the only one who can put her down? No one else can play with your toys?” Ally taunted. “Maybe that’s why Dinah broke up with you, because you’re such a control-freak!”

“You’re such a bitch!”

“Whatever, I don’t give a crap about what you think.”

Normani laughed mirthlessly. “At least _I_ can think.” She placed her hands on her hips and grinned. “4.0, honor roll, bitch. Suck on that when you’re trying to sleep your way into a job.”

Ally’s jaw dropped in shock. “Hey, I’m not a slut! I don’t sleep around. I wouldn’t _ever_ cheat on Dinah,” she shot back. “I just know how to use my stuff. Who needs grades when you have all the natural advantages that you can handle?”

“Oh, please.” Normani snorted. “Dinah only downgraded from me, sis.”

“Stop being so delusional,” Ally quipped. “You couldn’t buy a moldy loaf of bread with your stanky butt.”

“Excuse me!?” Normani gasped, clearly surprised that someone would say anything negative about her behind. “Do you think that’s insulting?”

“That girl is on crack or something.”

Zendaya clenched her fists and inhaled sharply. “Ally, you need to shut your mouth, okay?”

“No,” Ally fired back with a glare. “You’re the one who needs to keep her nose out of other people’s business!”

“I’m about to get right up in your business, you bitch,” Normani warned.

Zendaya had never seen Normani this upset in a long time. It was terrifying. A little arousing, but mostly terrifying.

Ally cackled. “Are we about to get real? Cause I’m down to get real, dearie.” She marched towards Normani with her fists ready and arms tensed.

Just then, Ashley got up from attempting to start the fire, seemed to decide enough was enough, and ran over to Ally and Normani. “Stop it! This is not helping anything,” she yelled angrily. “This is not what I wanted when I wanted everyone to get back together. If we can’t get along for ten minutes, maybe we need a little break.” She turned to look at Dinah and forced a smile. “Dinah, why don’t you check out the guest cabin? You know, the one I told you about.”

Dinah shrugged. “Uh, yeah, sure.” She stood up and smiled at Ally apprehensively. “Want to go do that?”

“Anywhere without that _puta_ ,” Ally said, shooting Normani a glare. Zendaya sighed annoyedly as Normani flipped her off.

“Right up the trail, girls.” Ashley gestured to the door with a small smile.

Dinah grabbed Ally’s hand and led her to the exit.

“Phew,” Zendaya pretended to wipe sweat off of her forehead. “Glad that’s over.”

Ashley looked at her indifferently. “Yeah.”

“So, Ash, should we get this fire going?” Her blue-haired friend nodded and made her way back to the fire place. Zendaya knelt down and began arranging the wood so Ashley could set a fire that would actually start.

She heard Normani curse quietly. Zendaya turned to see what the commotion was about. She was near her luggage and looking at it with wide eyes. “Where’s my bag?”

“Huh?” Zendaya mumbled. She could have sworn she carried all of their bags up. All three of Normani’s bags and her own.

“My little bag with the pink pattern,” Normani elaborated. “The one I got on Rodeo…” Zendaya blinked in confusion. Normani huffed at her. “Are you even listening? Do you even remember? It was next to that Italian shoe place! You knocked over the rack while you were drooling all over that red-headed girl at the counter.”

Zendaya sighed agitatedly and stood back up. “She _was_ asking about my letter jacket.” Her girlfriend groaned and looked away from her as she walked up to the pile of luggage. Just as Normani said, the pink bag was nowhere to be seen.

“Right. Because she gave a shit about your _designer_ letter jacket.”

Zendaya scowled. “Why do you hate my jacket?”

“Zendaya! I need my bag!”

“Gosh, Mani, maybe you just forgot it.”

Normani raised a brow. “Do you seriously think I’d forget my bag?” Zendaya considered her for a second. Yes. She did think that Normani would forget her bag. It was totally plausible. Normani had forgotten a lot of things before and blamed them on her. “You must have left it down at the cable car station.”

“Ugh,” Zendaya groaned.

Normani held out her hand. “Come on, hun, we’ll be back soon.” She grabbed her girlfriend’s hand and found herself being pulled closer to her. Zendaya’s breath hitched as Normani stood on her toes to whisper in her ear. “And then we can get _very_ warm.”

Zendaya’s face lit up. “Okay, let’s go.” Normani and her made her way towards the front door. She turned around just in time to see Lauren get up.

“Okay, I’m gonna go take a bath and simultaneously do my Music History assignment,” Lauren declared. Ashley wiggled her eyebrows and gave her a suggestive smirk. Lauren just rolled her eyes and climbed the stairs.

**22:43**

“Exiled,” Dinah stated in disbelief.

“Sex-iled,” Ally corrected her with a teasing grin.

Dinah laughed. “I’m glad that Allysin makes an appearance. It makes things much easier.”

Ally shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “Brr, how far is this guest cabin anyways?”

“This cabin,” Dinah breathed out assuringly, “is the most coziest, most romantic, most divine love den you will ever lay your eyes on.”

Her girlfriend chuckled dryly. “If we ever make it without freezing first.”

“I have a feeling that luck’s on our side.”

“Play your cards right and maybe you’ll get lucky.”

Ashley swung open the door obnoxiously loud, causing Dinah to flinch. This was the _millionth_ time she was pussy blocked during the trip. She did her best to hide her frustration as Ashley tossed a pair of keys to Ally. “Hey, porn stars. You’re gonna need these.”

Ally raised a brow as she played with the keys. “Porn stars?”

“I’d pay to see it.” Ashley winked at her.

“Gross.” She fake-gagged.

Ashley turned to Dinah and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry to kick you out like that.”

“No worries, dude.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to entertain yourselves.”

“Mhm, you have fun with the peanut gallery,” Ally said. “Maybe you’ll get lucky with Lauren.”

Ashley bit down on her lip and averted her gaze from them. Dinah had to laugh. Ashley was so crazy about Lauren. But all she did was tease Camila about not scoring with Ariana when Ashley had the same problem with the green-eyed girl. “Oh. I almost forgot. You gotta fire up the generator to see where you’re going. It’s dark out there.” She saluted and then turned to go back into the lodge.

“Roger that,” Dinah mumbled. She looked over at Ally, who looked like she was in a daze. Her pupils were dilated and her hands were folded together.

“I think Ashley was flirting with me.”

Dinah chuckled. “You want to invite her up with us?”

Ally’s face lit up with excitement. “Wait, really?”

“No! I was kidding,” Dinah said. She didn’t want to share Ally with anyone. Ally belonged to her and her only. Ashley and her big obsession with pussy could go fuck herself. Her short girlfriend made her way down the path, and Dinah sighed and followed after her.

They walked for a few hundred feet before Ally stopped and pulled out her phone. “We should totally have a winter photo booth. C’mere, hot lips!”

Dinah laughed and took Ally’s phone from her. She held it up and pressed the camera app.  After she adjusted it so the lighting was good, she made her signature duck face and leaned in towards Ally. She pressed the button and grinned when it turned out absolutely flawless. Dinah was the queen of taking selfies. She knew just when to take it when Ally looked best. Ally was also very photogenic, so it always worked out amazingly.

“Oh my gosh, Dinah, you are totally the queen of selfies,” Ally squealed as she took her phone back and zoomed in to get a better look. “We’re totally the cutest couple out there. Sorry to Normani and her big, scary hound.”

Dinah smiled at her, ruffling her girlfriend’s hair. “You could totally be a model.”

“You keep that camera handy and maybe you can be my personal photographer,” she flirted. “We can even start our first portfolio in the cabin.”

“Duly noted.”

They continued down the trail towards the guest cabin. Even with the cool wind hitting against her, Dinah felt at peace. Ally knew how to make things fun. Normani could only wish that she was as adventurous as her. All Normani did was whine, bitch, and complain.

Dinah noticed the Frangipane Estate sign near the path. She sighed sadly. Due to the crazy shit that had been happening the past year, no one bothered to come up there. “Kind of a bummer. There’s not a lot of TLC for this place any more,” she thought out loud.

Ally stopped once they reached the top of the hill. “Normani’s as dumb as she looks if she thinks she can break us up,” she burst out. Dinah raised a brow in surprise. She thought Ally left all that back in the lodge. “Maybe if we’re lucky, she’ll follow us out here and get eaten by a bear. Although, I doubt even a bear would want to eat her. She’d just complain that the bear wasn’t eating her fast enough.”

Dinah grimaced. She knew that Ally was right. Normani was being a mega-bitch that evening, but all she could think about were the good times that she and her ex-girlfriend shared. “I know that she can be a handful. But maybe you should ease up on her?” she suggested. “She’s still kind of torn from being dumped.”

“Um, hello?!” Ally placed her hands on her hips. “That ain’t my problem, Dinah. And it shouldn’t be yours either.”

“Ah, yeah,” Dinah agreed. “It’s not my fault that she doesn’t know what ‘beat it, ya skank’ means.”

“Totally. Like crack a dictionary much, blockhead?”

As they continued to walk, Dinah noticed a gate in front of them. It had to mark where the guest cabin was. She ran her tongue over her lower lip and attempted to open it. It was jammed shut. The gate wasn’t frozen, just locked. “I think it needs some juice or something.”

“Didn’t Ashley say there was a generator? Dinah, you gotta fire it up!”

“Alright, alright,” Dinah groaned.

She walked beside the gate and made her way up the hill where a small cabin was. Outside it was a giant-ass box, that had to be the generator. Dinah sighed in relief and slugged over to the generator.

Something wooden caught her attention. Dinah wasn’t very curious, but she had an affinity for cool-looking objects. She knelt down and looked at it. It looked like a huge beetle with red accents. Dinah hated beetles. She turned it over.

Ariana was shown being punched in the face by a figure in a clown mask. She slumped over, unconscious.

Dinah blinked in confusion. She was ninety percent sure that she was on something because there was no freaking way that she saw _Ariana_ get punched in the face. Ariana was back in the lodge sucking face with Camila.

It wasn’t the weirdest thing she’d ever witnessed on the mountain.

“Ugh, I wish you could _generate_ a little _excitement_ about getting that freaking generator to work,” Ally complained. Her tone was laced with impatience.

“Alright. I’ll just yell at it like you’re yelling at me. It’ll definitely work then,” Dinah replied.

Ally pouted. “Dinaahhh, wouldn’t it be nice to fire up the Genny and get moving?”

“What’s a Genny?”

Dinah stood back up and walked towards the generator. She opened the latch and pulled the switch. “Boom! Nice one, Dinah Jane,” she said out loud. She pulled the switch one more time and the lights lit up around them. “Damn, I did good,” Dinah cheered.

“Woo! You are a wizard,” Ally encouraged.

Dinah beamed at her girlfriend and made her way over to the gate that was previously locked. To her glee, it opened easily. “Kazam, the gates shall open.” Ally came up next to her and stood on her toes to kiss her cheek.

Dinah brought her hand up to the spot where her girlfriend kissed her and smiled widely. “Aw, yeah. This is going to be awesome. You psyched yet? You don’t look psyched!”

“I am so psyched!” Dinah insisted.

“It’s like a little adventure. A sexcapade, if you will.”

“Allyson,” she warned.

Ally grinned cheekily and gestured towards the path. She smiled and followed her girlfriend.

As they continued on their long journey, Dinah noticed that there was police tape still around. Her jaw clenched and she turned to look at Ally. Her expression looked stoic. Dinah wondered if Ally even cared about what happened a year ago anyways.

“Police tape, wow,” she breathed out.

“It has to be from Lucy and Vero,” Dinah concluded.

Ally bit her lip. “You’d think they’d clean it up, you know?”

“They never closed the investigation.”

“Man, I’m a little creeped out now.”

Dinah sighed sadly. She stared at the tape. Dinah felt terrible for what happened last year. She didn’t mean for things to get out of hand at all. She just found it funny that Vero had a crush on her. It was Normani and Ally’s idea to prank her. And because of that, she humiliated her and left her to die. Dinah had always felt that her friends’ deaths were her fault, and that it was a miracle Ashley or Lauren even forgave her.

“Well wherever they are… I’m sure they’re all happy we’re thinking about them.”

Ally nodded slowly, leaning against Dinah. “That’s a nice way to put it. Wouldn’t their spirits be mad at us?” She shifted uncomfortably. “Gosh, I feel so terrible.”

“It’s in the past now. We gotta move forward, for the both of them.”

Just then they heard a scream in the distance. Ally and Dinah exchanged frightened looks.

“Oh, gosh, what was that?” Ally asked with uncertainty.

Dinah gulped. “I don’t even want to find out.”

Dinah and Ally trotted away from that situation. There was no way there would be a repeat of last year. Dinah would make sure of that.

Ahead of them, a tree was blocking their path. Ally groaned loudly and gritted her teeth. “Are you serious!? Screw you, Mother Nature.”

“Great, I don’t think we can get up to the cabin with the path blocked like this.”

“Well, we gotta figure it out,” Ally persisted. “Because there’s no way in heck I’m gonna go back to the lodge aka the wax museum and drink hot chocolate with Normani. I’d rather choke.” She pushed Dinah to the side and forced her way a barrier near the fallen tree. “You know what? Screw it. We’re adventurous. We will find another way around.”

She broke the barrier and slipped. Dinah didn’t have time to react before she heard Ally scream and fall down the ledge.

“Ally! Fuck. Hey, Ally!” Dinah called as she knelt down by the ledge so she could try and peer in to see her.

Ally grunted and rubbed her head. “Yep, I’m okay.”

“You scared the shit out of me!”

“How do you think _I_ felt?”

Dinah’s nose scrunched. “Did you hit your head or anything?”

Ally laughed. “As far as I can tell, I still have all seven of my limbs!”

“Alright.” Dinah squinted and tried to get a better look at what was down there. It was pitch black. “Can you get out?”

“Uh, I can hardly see anything down here,” she admitted.

In the spur of the moment, Dinah decided to jump down and help Ally out. It wasn’t like there was any place she could go otherwise. Her girlfriend needed her anyways.

“Alright, I’m coming down, too!”

Dinah jumped down the ledge and landed on her feet. She grunted at the impact and winced. She saw that Ally was beaming excitedly at her.

“Hey, baby, what to help me move this cart thing?” Ally gestured to the minecart that was behind her.

Dinah nodded. “Yup, help me move it.”

Ally and Dinah both pushed the minecart. They were incapable of pushing it alone. That was a fact. Dinah wasn’t strong enough and Ally wasn’t very strong at all. Together they made a great team.

“You know,” she purred. “When I imagined us grunting and moaning together, this was not what I imagined.”

Ally laughed at her insinuation. The two of them pushed the cart for a bit until they both got tired. As soon as they got tired, the cart started rolling towards them. Dinah was quick to react and stopped it from hitting them.

“Holy crap! Are you okay, Dinah?” Ally looked at her with concern as she placed her hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

“Just peachy,” Dinah grunted.

She stepped out of the way of the minecart and started walking past it. Ally followed after her.

“This place is giving me willies. And not the good kind of willies.” Ally shuddered as they walked through the creepy, dark place they were in.

Dinah raised a brow and smirked. “Can I offer you some complimentary comfort and reassurance?”

“Save it for the cabin, honey.”

Dinah decided to go right first. It was a mistake. The end of the pathway was a dead-end. Still, Dinah couldn’t help but keep walking because she noticed another totem at the end of the hallway. Hopefully it wasn’t as weird as the other one she saw. She knelt down and picked it up.

The totem looked different. It depicted a part of an owl and had white accents. She turned it over.

Another image flashed before her. It showed Ally waking up in a collapsed mine elevator. She looked beaten up and bruised, but very much alive.

Dinah turned around to look at Ally. She wondered what could happen to cause Ally to look so bloody. She exhaled softly and stood back up.

She walked for a little bit more and was almost too relieved to see a staircase. A staircase meant that there was out, since they needed to go up. At the top of the stairs was a small room to the right. Dinah chewed on her lower lip and stepped inside. Located on a barrel was a cigar stub. She blinked and picked it up. “Huh. It’s a stogie.”

“Feels like a weird place to hang out and smoke cigars,” Ally noted apprehensively.

Dinah nodded and furrowed her brows. “It’s recent too. Who the hell could have been up here?”

On the wall an odd symbol was painted near a deer skull and a few dream catchers. The symbol looked like it was a distorted human skull with antlers. She turned to glance at Ally, who was also looking at it. “This place is historical. It’s gotta be Native American, right?” Ally tilted her head to the side. “Sorry, First Nations for you Canadian weirdos.”

“Holy bat cave,” she gasped.

Dinah chuckled at her and walked out of the room. They continued down the mine shaft’s hallway. She heard rumbling and stopped quickly, holding her arm out to prevent Ally from going forward. A wooden plank fell in front of them. Ally screamed and clung onto Dinah tightly.

“Holy shit,” Dinah sputtered out in shock. “You alright?”

“Yeah. That was a close one.” Ally shivered and squinted.

“I don’t think this place is up to code.”

“I’m thinking that we should go, DJ.”

Dinah looked to her right. On a desk was a mine danger map. Several of the places on a long mine system were marked in red. There were issues such as collapses supports due to rust, extreme rockfall danger, and a flood risk. The map was dated back was issued in 1951. Dinah could only assume that things got worse since then.

“This place is a real fixer upper,” Dinah mumbled.

They finally found a staircase that led up to the surface because she could see the snow covered stairs.

“Finally!” Ally let out an exasperated sigh and ran ahead. “A little ray of hope.”

They were at a clearing with a telescope at the end. Dinah assumed that they had to be very high up in order to see what was going on.

Dinah walked up the stairs and noticed another totem to her left. She shrugged. This was the third one she saw in the past hour or so. It had to be some sort of sign. Still, she had to take a look at it.

A giant wooden lizard with brown accents was hugging the entire structure. She turned it over. She wished she didn’t.

An image flashed before her depicting Ally in just her bra and panties dropping onto a elevator shaft with her jaw ripped off. It was so disgusting.

Dinah cursed loudly and threw the totem pole off into the woods around them. She was satisfied when she heard it tumble down the hill. She turned around to see Ally giving her a confused look, but she just shrugged it off. They walked towards the fence where the telescope was. Ally leaned on it and stared out into the mountainside below.

“When Ashley said ‘cabin’ I thought like, Abe Lincoln.”

“Wait until you see the Lincoln Bedroom,” Dinah flirted.

Ally giggled. “Oh, are you going to get all presidential on me?”

“Wanna take a ride on my Air Force One?”

Her girlfriend snorted and rolled her eyes. “Alright, that’s enough.” Her eyes lit up when she saw the telescope and made her way towards it. “Ooh, a telescope!” Ally stood on her toes so she could actually look through it. “We got some trees. Hey there, big stocky dudes! We got some clouds. They look nice and puffy, like cotton candy. We’ve got a nice cozy cabin-” Ally cursed audibly. Dinah’s eyebrow rose. She didn’t expect _that_ to come out of her mouth. “Uh. Whoa.”

Dinah tilted her head to the side as Ally stepped back from the telescope. “What’s up?”

“I just saw someone at the cabin.”

“Really?” Dinah questioned in disbelief. “Let Dinah Jane take a look.”

Ally moved out of the way so Dinah could look through the telescope. She didn’t see anything that looked like a person. She did see a weird figure though that looked like a bony spider. Well, a spider with only four legs. She decided not to think much of it.

“Sampling the ol’ eggnog again, babe? It’s just us up here.”

“Ah, maybe,” Ally mumbled. “I could have sworn I saw a person though.”

Ally and Dinah walked away from the telescope and made their descent down the hill on the path to the cabin. The wind was loud and made Dinah feel uneasy, but Ally was practically glowing. If her girlfriend was happy, then she had to be happy too. An animal danger sign was posted on a tree to her left.

“Hey, Ally?” Dinah prodded Ally’s shoulder. “Stay close by, okay?”

Ally’s forehead creased and she pursed her lips. “Why, what’s up?”

“This posting up here says there’s some brown bears up here somewhere.”

Her girlfriend tapped her shoulder and tugged on her hand. “Oh Dinah, I have the best idea!” She had a playful grin on her features. “Let’s go hug a bear. Come on. Please? Come on.”

Dinah shook her head violently and pulled Ally close to her, as if she was trying to protect her. “Uh. Let’s not hug a bear!”

She figured it would be best if she held onto Ally. There was no way she was going to let her excitable girlfriend do something and get her killed. The image of Ally’s jaw ripped off kept replaying in her mind. It might have been her mind playing tricks on her, but Dinah wouldn’t take any chances. Not after last year.

Another gate was in front of them. She opened it and a bird jumped out and flew right into Dinah’s face. She cursed loudly and started flailing, shoving Ally over. “Eek! What the fuck?”

Ally didn’t seem fazed by getting shoved over. She just roared with laughter. “Watch out, bird-brain!”

Dinah’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She ran a hand through her blonde, curly mane. “I was just answering its mating call,” she defended herself.

“Wow,” she deadpanned. “You’re easy.”

“Yeah,” Dinah agreed. “I got a lot of love to give.”

Ally chuckled and skipped away.

Dinah sighed agitatedly and looked down at her feet. “...I was scared,” she admitted to the silent winter forest.

She picked up her pace to catch up with Ally. She was standing in front of a fallen tree that was blocking their path.

“Goddamnit, Ashley! Couldn’t you have at least cleared the path before sending us up here?”

“Really?” Ally scoffed. “I didn’t take you for the glass half-empty type.”

Dinah rolled her eyes. “You got a better idea?”

Ally grinned widely. “Yup.” She winked at her. “Stand back, Debbie Downer!” Ally stood on a nearby rock and used it to hoist herself on top of the large fallen tree. She struggled a bit due to her small figure, but she managed to climb to the top of it. Her gaze met Dinah’s and her grin seemed to grow impossibly bigger. She bowed. “Thank you, thank you.”

“Oh, boo!” Dinah cupped her hands over her face to yell, “you’re such a show-off!”

“Hey Dinah, you got something on your face.”

She moved her hand to see what Ally was talking about. Instead, she was met with a snowball hitting her right in the face.

“Boom! Headshot!”

Dinah bent over to make a snowball of her own. “Well, if that’s how it’s going to be.” She stood back up and aimed her snowball, only to find that Ally was missing. “Ally?” Her heartbeat quickened when she heard only the wind reply to her question.

Ally screamed.

“Ally!?” Dinah shouted with a frightened expression.

**22:44**

Lauren continued to adjust the taps of the bathtub. Of course it wouldn’t be working. No one liked to take relaxing baths out of their friend group except for her. Maybe Normani if she was super stressed out, but that was about it.

“Laurenzaaaa,” Ashley called from downstairs.

Lauren turned her head so she could shout out the open bathroom door. “Whaaat?”

“You wanna help me get this fire going?”

“Um,” Lauren replied softly. She stood up from her kneeling position and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I was just getting into the bath…”

“Oh!” Ashley interjected. “Do you need any help with that? I’m a master at making baths relaxing, _and_ making women feel good.” Lauren had to roll her eyes at the flirtatious tone of her _friend._

“Hardy har,” she called back sarcastically.

Lauren knelt back down to work on the taps. She turned on the hot water only to find that it was freezing cold. “Oh, come on,” she whined. “Alright, Ashley, you win on getting my attention. But let’s see if you know how to hook up the hot water in your big fancy lodge?”

She sighed and exited the bathroom. Just as she left the giant bathroom with the bath, she heard a loud scream. Lauren paused. “Shit, what the fuck was that?”

She shuddered. It had to be her imagination. No one else was on the mountain except for them. Dinah and Ally were making their way to the guest cabin. Normani and Zendaya were off finding Normani’s bag. Lauren figured that both of them would end up fucking later.

Lauren turned to the left and found herself walking into a bedroom. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was Vero’s room. Everything was so Vero, from the pink curtains to the posters of Rihanna on the wall.

“Wow, look at all of Vero’s stuff.”

Lauren glanced at a table to her right. There was a tattoo card. She picked it up and examined it, recognizing the place. She had taken Vero there to get her first tattoo on March 18th, 2013. Lauren already got a tattoo before her eighteenth birthday since the laws in Canada were not as strict as the ones in the United States. While Vero got a tattoo of a very intricate looking butterfly on her shoulder, Lauren got roman numerals on her upper arm.

Lauren noticed a familiar postcard on the nightstand on Vero’s nightstand. It was from her Halloween party that she hosted a while ago. She picked it up and turned it over.

_“Vero, Ashley & Lucy, _

_You are invited to_

_Lauren's Halloween Party_

_October 31st, 2013_

_FANCY DRESS_ _OBLIGATORY_ _!”_

“That was a fun party,” Lauren remarked. “Ariana got _so_ drunk.”

Lauren decided to continue her snooping. On the wall near the bed was a picture of Dinah underneath a party invitation written by her. “Gosh, she was so obsessed with Dinah.” She walked over to Vero’s closet and noticed a piece of paper sticking out from below it. Lauren knelt down and picked it up and then turned it over. It was one of those compatibility tests found in those tacky magazines. It was torn so she figured Vero wasn’t very pleased with the results of the test. There was a heart with their initials in it. “Could this be any more ‘Dinah’?”

Lauren sighed and decided to leave the room. Too many memories were coming back to her, and they weren’t good ones. She sauntered to the staircase. Down below, Camila and Ariana were cheering Ashley on as she got the fire started.

“Come on,” Ashley huffed impatiently.

“How long do you think it’ll take her?” Camila asked.

“My money’s on blankets for everyone,” Ariana quipped.

“You can do it, dude. We believe in you.”

“Yeah! Totally! Woo!” Lauren rolled her eyes as she heard Ariana cheer and clap her hands together excitedly. “Let’s go, Ashley, let’s go!”

Lauren finished walking down the final steps and made her way into the Great Room.

“Alright, peanut gallery. It’s time that you actually did something useful. I got an idea for you two.”

Ariana stopped cheering and looked over at Ashley intently. “What’s up?”

“Okay so, I’m pretty sure that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have… a spirit board.”

“Wow,” Camila chuckled. “You guys have a ‘spirit board’? As if this place didn’t already scream ‘setting of a horror movie.’”

Ariana bit her lip and raised a brow. “Are you saying that we should have a seance?”

Camila narrowed her eyes and frowned. “No way, man. Those things are a joke. They don’t do shit.”

“Are you kidding?” Ashley laughed dryly. “Vero, Lucy, and I used to do it all the time. Well, before…” Her face fell slightly as she trailed off. Lauren decided to step in and ease the tension.

“Hey, Ashley?” Lauren had to bite back a smile when she saw Ashley’s face light up, once again, at her voice. “No hot water’s kind of a big issue, ya think?”

Ashley nodded, looking over at Lauren intently. “Yeah. We just gotta fire the boiler up in the basement.” She turned to Ariana and Camila and pointed at the two of them. “You guys should go see if you can find the spirit board.”

Camila groaned and sulked. Ariana, on the other hand, looked positively delighted. “Come on, Mila! It’ll be fun. We can go on our own little treasure hunt.”

“I’m not exactly sure that the treasure is something that I _want_ ,” Camila grumbled. Ariana giggled and pulled her in the direction of the dining room.

Lauren rolled her eyes. Camila and Ariana were like two little children. Ashley let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Lauren. “You up for the ride-along? I don’t wanna leave you all alone in this spooky lodge.”

“Sure thing, just don’t make me regret it.”

Ashley took the lead and started walking in the direction of the basement. Lauren smiled contently and followed after her. She wasn’t exactly sure of what to say next. They were finally alone, but now what? It wasn’t like Lauren could just start talking about what happened last year. Both of them would start crying then. Because the mention of Vero and Lucy both made them the most emotional out of the lot of them.

Ashley stopped and turned around. She leaned against the lodge’s all. “Hey, did you notice how I gave Camila and Ari a mission together? I was thinking that they could use some ‘alone time.’”

“Really,” Lauren deadpanned. “Are you sure it wasn’t because you wanted _us_ to have some alone time?”

“Mm,” Ashley hummed. “It could go both ways, babe.”

She laughed softly at Ashley’s comment, because it was so typically her. “Well, Camila and Ariana are very sweet together. I just wish they’d freaking get it over with already.”

“Totally,” she agreed enthusiastically. “I swear they just need something to bond over, you know? Some sort of traumatic event to send them into each other’s arms.”

“Oh, like that really works. Girlfriends formed in post-traumatic stress.”

“Well, a traumatic event brought me to you, didn’t it?”

Lauren’s cheeks turned pink and she averted her gaze from Ashley.

Ashley led Lauren to the door right in front of the basement. Lauren stepped out of the way so Ashley could reach into the drawer and pull out a flashlight. She looked up and smiled at Lauren in a way that made it impossible for Lauren not to return it.

“You know, Laur…”

Lauren raised a brow.

“I just wanted to say…” Ashley took a deep breath, gripping onto the flashlight tightly. “It means _so_ much that everyone came back this year. But specifically I’m glad that _you_ came back this year, Lauren. I know it was rough losing Lucy and Vero. You were probably just as close to them as I was.”

Lauren sighed heavily. “Ash, we’re here for you. Really. _I’m_ here for you. We both lost people close to us that night. If anything it’s brought us closer, and I know it’s hard to move on. In some ways, I can’t. But I know that… You and me? We can get through this. I want to be there for you, Ashley, just as you’ve been there for me.” She placed a tentative hand on her shoulder.

Ashley looked shocked. Her face fell slightly, like she felt _guilty_. Lauren wondered if she said something wrong to her. She didn’t want to mess things up again. She cared too much about Ashley for things to fall apart.

“Uh, I just want us to have a good time,” Ashley said awkwardly. She opened the door to the basement, allowing Lauren to go in ahead of her. Ashley closed the door behind them. Lauren looked down the stairs uneasily. It looked awfully creepy in there. “Watch your step.”

“I think I can handle a little old set of stairs,” Lauren retorted as she started climbing down the stairs. When she reached the last one, she flipped and fell backward. Luckily, Ashley caught her in time.

“You were saying, Jauregui?”

“Shut up,” Lauren spat. “I bet you totally made it slippery so you could be all heroic and shit.”

“That’s all on your clumsiness, babe,” Ashley replied. “Unless you _wanted_ me to catch you and have my arms around you.”

Ashley and Lauren walked in the direction of the boiler. Lauren hated to admit that Ashley’s basement was actually really cool. With all the yard stuff came tons of movie stuff. Ashley’s dad was a big movie director and even won Best Horror Film at a festival in 2009. A bunch of the stuff up there were leftovers from the set. When they reached the boiler, Lauren took a seat in the old armchair near the machine. Ashley knelt down and opened the cabinet.

“Sorry for dragging you down into the bowels,” she apologized as she pushed her blue hair back and out of the way.

“Just get me some hot water and I’ll be super-fine,” Lauren brushed it off. “Plus I get to spend more time with you, so I guess it’s okay.”

Ashley chuckled softly. “I wouldn’t want you down here alone.”

“It’s definitely creepy down here.”

“It ain’t a place you want to be in on your own.”

Lauren got up and decided to explore the area. She walked around the basement. A few creepy costumes were hung on the wall. There were six hangers, only four of them had an actual outfit on them. Somebody must have taken or used the other two.

At the end of the hallway was a door with no handle. Lauren narrowed her eyes. That was very odd.

She turned around and decided to go back to Ashley. Her foot accidentally kicked something wooden. Lauren looked at it curiously. It was a baseball bat. “What’s a baseball bat doing here? Is it yours?” Lauren asked Ashley.

Ashley stopped attempting to fix the boiler and glanced up at Lauren. “You bet it’s mine. I used to play ball with my dad all the time. Of course, that was before he got too busy to hang out with me or my brothers. Oh, well, save it for the couch, right?” Lauren smiled uneasily as Ashley got up and took it. She placed it against the opposite wall and went to fix the boiler. “Alright, back to the hot water machine.”

Lauren came up behind her and watched her continue to work. “Hey, Laur? Can you help me with this?” Ashley handed her the flashlight. “Just shine it here so I can see what I’m doing.”

Lauren nodded and pointed the flashlight to where Ashley was. Ashley examined it and then pulled a few switches. She let out a grunting noise that Lauren assumed meant that she figured it out.

“First things first, we gotta fix the water pressure,” Ashley explained. “It’s low. I mean, it wouldn’t affect you that much if you were taking a bath, but other people may want a shower. They aren’t weirdos who bathe, like you, Lauren.”

She scowled. “Okay, rude. It sounds complicated.”

“It’s actually pretty simple,” she said. “All you gotta do is press the button when the light shows up.”

Lauren knelt down to where the boiler was. She waited until she saw the light up. Ashley’s eyes were on her the entire time and she felt a little intimidated. So yes, she did blame Ashley completely for pressing the button too late when the light showed up. “Fuck,” Lauren cursed.

“It’s okay,” she assured her. “Try again.”

She waited for the light to show up again. This time she pressed it on time. It made a loud gurgling noise, startling Lauren. She jumped back up onto her feet. “Woah,” she breathed out.

Ashley grinned at her. “‘Atta girl.” She turned Lauren so she was facing her. “Up top?”

Lauren chuckled and brought her hand up for a high-five. When she tried to pull her hand away, she was surprised to find that Ashley had laced their fingers together and was holding onto her hand tightly. She furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Just go with it,” Ashley whispered.

The next thing Lauren knew, Ashley was kissing her. It wasn’t like she hadn’t kissed Ashley before. Because she definitely had, both drunk and sober. This time it felt different. Lauren gasped against her lips and brought her hands to Ashley’s waist. She sunk down on the arm chair and pulled Ashley on top of her.

They were kissing fiercely. Ashley was ravaging her lips and bringing one of her hands up to continuously stroke and tug on Lauren’s brown locks. She moaned when Ashley nipped at her lower lip and began sucking on it.

“Fuck, babe,” Lauren gasped before Ashley slipped her tongue easily into her parted lips. Lauren brought her hands further down the blue-haired girl’s waist and squeezed that fine ass of hers. Ashley’s back arched at the contact and groaned. The vibrations of the sound coming from Ashley caused her to shudder.

All good things had to come to an end. Lauren heard a loud banging noise and broke the kiss abruptly. “What was that!?”

“Could be a lot of things,” Ashley mumbled in a daze. Her pupils were dilated and Lauren had to bite her lip to stop her from reacting audibly to the hungry look in her eyes. “None of them are nice…”

Lauren glared at her. “Quit it, or you ain’t getting any action.”

“I’m just... I’m just _Ashing_ you.”

“That was fucking terrible.”

“Oh, but you laugh at Camila’s bad jokes?”

“Hers make sense. Yours are just annoying.”

Ashley rolled her eyes. “Fuck you.”

Lauren shifted in her seat and uncrossed her legs below Ashley’s hovering form. “I’m kind of waiting for you to right now,” she flirted.

Ashley groaned in response. “Jesus Christ, Lauren, you’re going to fucking murder me first, you psycho.” Lauren laughed and surged forward, bringing their lips back together. Ashley kissed her back just as eagerly as Lauren felt for some action. They kissed shortly before Ashley pulled away abruptly. She scowled, clearly upset by the blue-haired girl’s decision to break it off so quickly.

She just smirked and tilted her head so she could attach her lips to Lauren’s neck. Lauren gasped loudly. She was very sensitive on her neck. Lauren moaned loudly as Ashley’s teeth barely grazed her. Her arms flailed as she searched for something to grab onto. The girl on top of her smirked and dragged her teeth down Lauren’s neck, leaving Lauren into a moaning and thrashing mess below her.

“Oh my fucking God, Ashley,” Lauren whimpered. Ashley laughed softly at her and began to run her tongue up her neck. Lauren hated thinking about her ex during sexual encounters. But compared to Ashley, Lucy was very vanilla.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Ashley started sucking on her neck. Lauren’s moans were animalistic. She squeezed the arm of the chair so hard that she thought she would end up ripping the cover off.

“Oh, look at that,” Ashley hissed as she pulled away from Lauren’s neck. “I left a bruise.”

Lauren’s cheeks flushed red. “It’s such a shame… I hope I’m the only person that will end up giving you a bruise tonight.” She shifted forward and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “if all goes to plan, that might not be the case.”

Lauren shuddered. She was a little concerned by Ashley’s word choice there. But she was way too aroused to even deal with Ashley’s borderline psychotic words. Lauren pushed Ashley off of her and slammed her into the wall across from them. “Okay, I’ve had enough of being your little bitch,” she growled.

Ashley gasped audibly as Lauren brought her lips to Ashley’s neck. The blue-haired girl’s hands began to wander towards Lauren’s jacket and she subtly attempted to take it off of her. Lauren caught onto her actions and bit her neck harshly.

She practically screamed when Lauren did that. But Lauren wasn’t totally heartless, so she ran her tongue along the forming bruise on the base of Ashley’s neck and soothed it.

Another loud banging noise caused Lauren to jump away from Ashley.

“Seriously, what the fuck?”

Ashley cackled. “Oh, Lauren, you’re such a wuss. Can’t you see that there isn’t anyone here?”

Lauren’s nostrils flared. She was sick of Ashley taunting her over a perfectly rational fear. Lauren turned her head to look in the direction of the sound. Her eyes widened and she pretended to shake in fear. “Oh my God, oh my God,” she gasped. “There’s… Oh God, Ashley.”

She furrowed her brows. “What’s going on?”

“There’s something over there.”

“Yeah, right. Oldest trick in the book, Jauregui. Now are you going to devour me, or what?”

“Ashley, I’m serious,” she insisted.

Ashley turned to look in the direction that Lauren was looking in. Lauren roared with laughter. “Ha, gotcha!”

“Alright, alright.” She bowed her head. “Your point.”

“Thirty to love,” Lauren boasted. “Suck on that, bitch!”

“Wait, where did you get the first point?”

Lauren tilted her head to the side. “It doesn’t start at thirty?”

“No, you goober. It starts at fifteen.”

She huffed. “Well, I guess I got the first point for giving you a hickey.” Lauren laughed. “I’m more of a ping-pong gal anyways.”

Ashley rolled her eyes and motioned for Lauren to come back over to her. Ashley smirked and took her flannel off. She then began tugging at her long-sleeved shirt.

Lauren stared at her with wide eyes. “Are we seriously about to fuck in your basement?”

“I don’t see why not,” Ashley replied. “We’ve done it in your car, a public restroom, and even Camila’s bedroom, for crying out loud!”

She bit down on her lip. “A creepy basement isn’t a place I want to add to that list.”

“Be a little adventurous, babe,” she teased and opened her arms up. Lauren rolled her eyes and moved to go back over to her.

And as if nothing happened before, Lauren and Ashley were kissing again. Lauren admitted that fucking in a basement may actually have been a smart idea of Ashley’s. They could have taken it up to their bedroom, but she didn’t want to scare the shit out of innocent and pure Ariana. It was already enough that there were two sexually active couples on the mountain besides them.

It was all a blur for Lauren. Ashley’s skilled hands were tugging, pulling, pushing, biting, sucking on her. Lauren was in bliss. She just had to have her. It was the only way she could actually enjoy her weekend. Lauren pulled the shirt off of Ashley. Her mouth watered at the sight of her favorite pair of breasts. She was quick to take off Ashley’s black bra and run her hands over the two mounds. Her thumbs played with Ashley’s small buds. The blue-haired girl whimpered and whined as she clumsily attempted to pull down Lauren’s leather jacket.

“You too, please,” Ashley begged as she pulled down Lauren’s zipper.

“Soon, babygirl,” she answered her as she then knelt down and brought her mouth to Ashley’s left nipple.

She moaned loudly at Lauren’s touch. “Fuck, yes, Lauren. Suck it so hard,” she pleaded. Lauren eagerly complied and sucked her pink nub. She flicked her tongue against it, spurred on by the absolutely divine noises leaving Ashley’s mouth.

She gave the same treatment to her right nipple. Ashley’s hands moved to grab Lauren’s hair and tugged harshly. Lauren moaned loudly. That was another one of her turn-ons.

Lauren removed her mouth to look up at Ashley. Her lustful gaze was on hers, eagerly awaiting for Lauren to continue. “What’s next, baby? Should I fuck you with my tongue?” Lauren smirked when Ashley whimpered like a puppy at her words. “Or should I stick my fingers into your tight little pussy? I bet you love it when my fingers fuck you so good in your tight little-”

“Lauren,” she moaned. “You know I fucking can’t stand dirty talk. So take me now, or I’ll fuck myself right now.” Just to prove her point, she brought her hands to the zipper of her jeans and unzipped it partially. With more room, she was able to stick her hand into her own panties. It pissed Lauren off to see Ashley’s eyes partially close. She knew she was touching herself.

Lauren narrowed her eyes and grabbed her hand, pulling her hand out of her panties. “Fine. Since you’re being a fucking brat, you don’t get to come.”

Ashley choked on her breath. “What!? Lauren, baby, don’t leave me hanging.” She looked scared, hurt. It was almost pathetic.

She stood back up and stared into Ashley’s eyes intently. “Fucking get on your knees, now.”

Ashley’s eyes widened and she dropped down to her knees, awaiting further instruction.

“Take my skirt and tights off, now,” she commanded,

“A-And your boots?”

“Obviously. Hurry the fuck up.”

She quickly complied, pulling her boots off first and then her plaid skirt. Lauren’s pupils dilated as she watched Ashley bite down on her lip as she pulled down Lauren’s tights. Once Lauren’s bottom half was completely naked, she looked up further instruction.

“Fuck me with your tongue, now,” Lauren ordered.

Ashley moaned loudly. Lauren took a step back so she was leaning back against the wall. Ashley looked so vulnerable, but so turned on as she looked up at her.

Lauren wasn’t ready when Ashley’s tongue entered her abruptly. She was pretty sure she screamed when she felt Ashley’s muscle swirl around inside her. “Fuck, just like that, Ashley. You’re a good girl.”

Ashley briefly pulled her tongue out. “Mm,” she hummed. “You say that my pussy’s tight, but I think yours is even tighter. I think I need to stimulate you some more.” Lauren whimpered when Ashley’s tongue flicked against her sensitive clit.

She slammed her back into the wall and almost fell over. Ashley was so talented with her tongue. It was no wonder that every time that they had sex, Lauren was beyond satisfied.

It was also partially because Lauren harbored a whole lot of feelings for Ashley.

Lauren felt herself getting wetter and wetter as Ashley lapped at her soaking pussy. She bit her lip. “Ugh, Ash, please fuck me soon.”

“Your wish is my command,” Ashley purred. Her voice vibrated against her sensitive bud, causing Lauren to moan loudly. Ashley entered her with her tongue again. Lauren grunted as Ashley began thrusting her muscle into her.

Lauren looked for something to grab onto and ended up tangling her hands in Ashley’s blue hair. She thrusted herself against Ashley’s face in attempt to match her strokes. They adopted a steady rhythm and Lauren found herself getting closer and closer by the second.

Her walls were clamping around Ashley’s tongue. Ashley seemed to get the message because she began fucking her even harder and faster.

Lauren whimpered, whined, and moaned. “I’m so close, baby, you’re doing so amazing.”

And then Ashley hit _that_ spot, and Lauren couldn’t take it anymore. She came so hard, screaming so loudly that she was sure the whole lodge could hear her. Lauren’s back arched and her vision was blurred. She panted loudly as she came down from her orgasm. Ashley was already steps ahead of her, licking and cleaning the juices from her. It was so hard for her to deal with. Lauren’s pussy was already so sensitive.

“Ash, oh my God, no more,” Lauren whined. Ashley sighed loudly and stood back up. Lauren looked at her lips. They were covered in her arousal. Ashley made a point to look at her directly as she licked her lips.

“You’re so good at that, gosh, I love y-” Lauren paused. “I mean, I love every time we fuck.”

“Well that’s another thing crossed off my bucket list. Fucking a girl that I actually really think is dope in my lodge.”

Lauren raised a brow as she moved to go put her tights and skirt back on. “Have you fucked other girls in this place besides me?”

Ashley laughed and reached for her shirts and bra. “Aw, don’t be jealous, Lauren. It was only Vero.” Lauren scowled as she slipped her boots on. “We were drunk too. It didn’t mean shit.” She clasped her bra on and then slipped her long-sleeved shirt on. “I think she even fell asleep while she was trying to eat me out.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “Like that’s any more comforting.”

Ashley put her flannel shirt on. “Shut up. Any time I have sex with you beats hers by a mile,” she assured her. Lauren leaned over and kissed her briefly.

The same banging noise from before was before. “I swear to God. It’s like regular now!”

“I didn’t hear it with my tongue in your pussy.” Her cheeks flushed at Ashley’s remark. “It may because you were moaning way too loud for me to hear anything else.”

“I’m gonna go check it out,” Lauren decided.

“What?” Ashley hissed. “Why?”

Lauren stuck her tongue out. “Why do you care, fraidyface?”

“Well, I was kind of expecting you to fuck me too.”

“We put our clothes on already, so that’s not happening,” she replied. Ashley pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you hold down the fort while I go make sure?”

Lauren picked up the flashlight and walked towards the direction of the noise. Something felt very ominous about the whole thing. She held the flashlight up to the end of the hallway where the noise was coming from. She took a deep breath.

A figure in a mask and a brown robe jumped out in front of her.

Lauren screamed loudly. “Ashley, run!” She called out. Ashley came sprinting towards her. Lauren grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the stairs that led up the basement. The masked assailant was running after them.

In the heat of the moment, Lauren knocked a shelf over to block of the path behind them. The assailant tripped and fell over. Lauren cheered and bolted up the stairs. Ashley was right behind her.

She grabbed the handle of the door and started jiggling it furiously.

“Come on, come on, come on! What the fuck, Ashley? Why are these doors locked?”

Ashley shrugged. “Ah! To keep out strangers!”

“We’re not strangers,” Lauren grunted as she continued to try and force the door open. “We’re lovers.”

“What?”

“What?” Lauren repeated her question. Judging by Ashley’s confused expression, she decided to just drop it. She clearly was on a different page than her.

“Hey…” The masked man moaned.

Lauren narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you dare come closer. I know self-defense.”

“Heyyyyy,” the masked man moaned louder, holding his arms out.

“What the hell!?” Lauren seethed.

The masked man reached up and grabbed the mask on his face. He slowly pulled it off to reveal that he was actually a _she_. And that she was also known as Camila Cabello.

“Boom! You just got monked,” Camila said with a cheeky grin. “Too bad I don’t have any holy water for you sinful little lesbians. Or should I say bisexuals?”

Lauren’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

Ashley cackled and slowly clapped. “Oh man, you got me good. Nice one, Cabello.”

Lauren scowled at Camila. She really wanted to slap the stupid grin off of her face. “Why would you even do that?”

“There’s all this old and cool movie crap down here. How was I not supposed to take advantage of it?” Camila looked at them pointedly. “Plus, I had to get revenge on you guys for forcing me to watch porn.”

“What… When did we make you watch porn?”

Camila smirked. “Lolo, I was down there. I heard and saw _everything_. By the way, I totally called Ashley being a bottom.” Lauren’s cheeks turned pink while Ashley just gasped. “It was some of the hottest shit I’ve ever seen. If you plan on doing that again, please tell me and I will gladly film it.”

“You’re sick, Camz!” Lauren huffed when Camila started pouting at her. “I bet you’re just jealous that Ari isn’t putting out.”

Ashley placed a hand on Lauren’s shoulder. “Lay off her, Laur. You know she can’t help it. That’s why she ain’t getting Ari’s pussy.”

The look on Ashley’s face made Lauren wonder something. “Wait, were you in on this too, Ash?”

“Nope. But I sure wish I was.” She held her hand up and Camila high-fived her eagerly. “That was too good, Cabello. You’re learning from the best.”

Camila pulled the key to the door out of the pocket of the monk outfit and opened the door to the lodge. Ashley and Lauren both stepped out before Camila. Ashley took the keys from Camila and then locked the basement once more.

“I’m ready to admit that your dumb prank may have a whiff of humor to it, Camz,” Lauren told Camila as they walked back towards the main room.

“Jokemaster!” Camila boomed excitedly.

“I said nothing about jokes,” Lauren retorted. “I said your prank, which was dumb-”

Ashley laughed softly. “Holy crap, Lauren, just admit that you were scared.”

“I was not,” Lauren fired back.

“Come on,” she persisted and lightly punched her shoulder. “You totally pissed yourself.”

Ariana jumped up from the couch when she saw the trio return to the room. “Hey, are you guys okay? I heard weird moans and groans coming from the basement.” Lauren’s eyes widened and she looked over at Ashley for help. Both her and Camila looked like they were stifling a laugh. Ariana narrowed her eyes at Camila. “Mila, what the fresh hell are you wearing?”

“I found my true calling,” Camila said as she gestured to her robes.

Ariana snorted. “Please tell me you’re taking a vow of silence too.”

Camila pretended to speak inaudibly and make hand motions weirdly.

“Alright, alright. Did you at least find the thingy?”

She nodded and pulled the spirit board out of her costume. “Boi-oi-oi-oing! Here’s our one way ticket to the spirit realm.”

Lauren shook her head and growled. “You know what? You know what? No! I’ve just been through enough spooking for one night! I see a hot bath in my crystal ball.”

“Damn, Lo, I think sex makes you more uptight than it does relax you,” Camila remarked. Lauren flipped her off. She had enough of Camila’s teasing for one night too.

Ariana furrowed her eyes in confusion. “Wait, sex? What is she talking about?”

“Whatever, go have fun.” Lauren marched towards the stairs. She stopped and turned around. “Oh, and watch out for Ashley! She’s a schemer.”

Ashley chuckled and winked, making Lauren blush. “Whatever you say, babe, whatever you say.”

**22:51**

Just outside of the lodge, Zendaya was trudging slowly through the snow. She sighed glumly and stuck her hands in her pocket. Stupid Normani and her stupid bag. All she cared about was herself and her material things.

“Hello, earth to Zendaya? You gonna come with me to get my bag?” Normani asked impatiently.

“Yeah, yeah,” Zendaya grumbled.

Zendaya made her way to where Normani was by the gate, but something brown caught her attention. She walked over to the rock. There was a cigar stub on there. “Is that a butt?” Zendaya thought out loud.

Normani rolled her eyes. “You’re a butt.”

“Who the hell’s been smoking a cigar?”

“Ha, not me,” she replied.

Zendaya shrugged and stood back up. “Maybe Ariana’s got a weird stogie habit.”

Normani just narrowed her eyes at her, silently telling her to “get a move on”. Zendaya walked over to the front gate and then opened it for her.

“Here you go, madam,” Zendaya said in a British accent.

“Why, thank you, sir,” Normani replied with a soft smile.

They walked down the path they were on before. Actually, no, Zendaya walked up there with Ariana because _somebody_ was being a lying, cheating little bitch. Suddenly an idea popped into her head. Why should all of them fight about what happened? This was not what Ashley wanted. Vero and Lucy wouldn’t want them to fight and argue either.

“Hey, Mani?” Zendaya asked timidly.

Normani turned to look at her. “Yeah?”

“I think we should start this weekend over. Right now. Clean state.”

“Oh?” Normani looked perplexed.

“Mhm. No arguing, no Dinah, no Ally. Just you and me enjoying ourselves in all this nature.”

“So all ‘au naturale’?”

Zendaya nodded, finding Normani’s French accent to be very attractive. “Damn straight.”

Normani’s lips curved into a small smile. “I can get with that,” she agreed. “I’d love to just move on from all that drama for once.”

“I hear you, babe.”

Normani reached out to grab Zendaya’s hand. Zendaya smiled and took her hand. The couple continued walking down the mountain path. Zendaya had to look over at her girlfriend. Normani was a very beautiful girl. Dinah was an idiot to dump her. Now that Zendaya had her, she felt extremely lucky.

Normani seemed to notice that Zendaya was staring at her, but she chose not to say anything about it.

A light suddenly turned on above them. She jumped suddenly at the bright light that hung over them. “Woah, alright. I did not see that coming.”

Normani chuckled at Zendaya’s frightened state and sludged over to a path that led away from the main one. “Hey! Doofus! Come this way!” She beckoned her towards the path.

Her forehead creased. “Are you trying to get me somewhere private?” Normani winked and placed her hands on her hips.

“Why don’t you come and find out?” Normani purred.

Zendaya chuckled. “Alright, just give me a sec.” She turned and made her way down the original path. She hoped she’d be able to find that the gate down there would be open so she could convince Normani to listen to her for once. Zendaya reached the metal gate and shook it violently. She narrowed her eyes and pressed the green button. The gate refused to open. She cursed quietly. “That’s weird,” Zendaya noted.

Zendaya doubled back and walked back over to Normani.

“What’re you doin’, you weirdo?” she spat.

“What?” Zendaya’s brows furrowed. “I came back.”

Normani came up and ruffled Zendaya’s hair. She blinked in confusion. “Good girl,” she cooed like Zendaya was some sort of animal. “Now, obey.”

The two of them started walking up the side path. Normani took the lead. Zendaya hoped that wherever Normani led her meant good sex or something comfortable. She didn’t want to waste any more time before getting her bag. There was a lodge with a warm fire and great friends waiting for them.

Normani paused and turned around. Zendaya noticed that she looked very timid. Her hands were folded and she was rocking back and forth. She figured she was about to say something nice because the only time she got nervous was when she was about to actually be nice. “Zendaya…”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Um,” Normani said softly. Her lips pursed. “Thanks for helping me find my bag. I know I can be a little high maintenance.”

_A little is an understatement,_ Zendaya thought.

“It’s no problem, babe,” she reassured her. “You gotta remember that there’s more to this girl than just being a lean, mean, luggage machine.”

“You gonna back that up?”

“All day,” Zendaya giggled as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Normani chuckled and hopped over to her. She stood on her toes and kissed her lips gently. Zendaya eagerly reciprocated her kiss. Normani was an amazing kisser too. That was a great quality in her girlfriend.

“Wait,” Normani said as she pulled away. “What did you just say?”

“All day.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Normani’s nose crinkled in confusion.

Zendaya bowed her head and stuffed her hands in her Letterman jacket’s pocket. “I was trying to be sexy. Like ‘all day long.’”

Normani’s lips curled in disgust. “You’re a weirdo, Z.”

Zendaya and Normani continued to walk down the path. They reached a clearing that had a view of the whole mountain side. Nearby was a picnic table covered in snow. “Huh, this place is so cool,” Zendaya said in awe.

“Ooh, it’s so pretty out here tonight,” Normani breathed out. She smiled as she watched her walk out and take a look at the nature around them. “And it’s so nice to be here with you, muscle girl.”

“Hey,” she protested. “I’m not all muscle. I’ve got some brains in here too!”

Normani raised a brow. “Well, you got enough brains to like me. So let’s see that brawn.”

Zendaya chuckled quietly. “You ever done it outside before?”

“Outside of what?”

“Well… my car?”

She chuckled quietly and shrugged her shoulders. “I like your car, Z. It’s roomy.”

Zendaya stretched her arms out and smirked. “Oh really? Is this not very roomy?” She started rubbing off the snow on the picnic table and then patted it. Normani regarded her strangely.

“Ah, I think there’s a better spot for that,” Normani said with hesitation.

“Does this ‘spot’ start with a ‘G’?” Zendaya flirted.

Her girlfriend rolled her eyes. “There are lots of better places out here, I’m sure of it.”

“I started to clear this off like a gentlewoman,” she protested.

Zendaya started to clear off the picnic bench even more. Her eyes widened when she noticed something in the table. There was a heart with an arrow shot through it with ‘Dinah+Mani’ engraved into the table.

“Well, will you look at that?” Zendaya spat. Normani stepped over to see what she was looking at. Her eyes widened in shock and she looked guilty. God, Normani was such a bitch.

“Don’t be jealous-” Normani started to say.

Zendaya huffed angrily. “Why would you take me here? It makes me feel like a chump, Mani.”

Normani frowned and took a step forward. “Don’t be so sensitive. I’m here with you. Right now, Dinah’s the chump.”

“Okay, maybe ‘chump’ isn’t the right word.”

“Then, what is?”

“Lucky.”

“Mm,” she hummed. “You’re getting there.”

Zendaya slid away from the picnic table. She ran a hand through her curly hair. “What’s so important in the bag, anyways?”

“It’s just my undies,” Normani replied. Her lips curved into a smile. “I’m talking about the lacy ones.”

“Well, hell, we don’t need those,” Zendaya replied flirtatiously. “I’m just going to rip ‘em off anyways.”

Normani raised a brow. “Are you sure you don’t want me to model them?” She twirled around and swayed her hips from side to side. “Maybe I want to show them off? It’ll put me in a generous mood.” Zendaya bit down on her lip. “C’mon, when I’m generous, everyone is happy.”

“Alright, let’s go get ‘em.”

Normani and Zendaya continued walking. Zendaya was seriously wondering if Normani even knew where she was going in the first place. She didn’t have much sense of direction, but she knew that the cable car station had to be in the opposite direction.

Her girlfriend gasped loudly. “Woah, check this out!” Normani beamed and made her way to a giant totem pole. “Look at this sexy kisser. I dare you to put your hand in it.”

Zendaya opened her mouth to protest, but it was too late. Normani already walked up to it and put her hand in it. “Just slide it in there…” She reached further in with her hand. Her eyes suddenly widened and Zendaya gasped as Normani was pulled in. She screamed loudly.

She was quick to react and ran to her girlfriend’s aid. “Normani!” She placed her hands on her waist and dragged her out of the totem pole’s mouth.

“Ha,” Normani said triumphantly. “Got you!”

Zendaya groaned. “Jesus, you’re ridiculous.”

“Come on,” Normani whined. “Live a little!”

A loud scream was heard in the distance, causing both Normani and Zendaya to halt and stare.

“What was that!?” Normani looked terrified. Her knees buckled and she clutched onto Zendaya’s arm tightly.

Zendaya shrugged. “It was probably an animal or something.”

“Uh, _je ne l’aime pas_ ,” she replied sassily.

She saw something weird out of the corner of her eye. There was something pink and bloody. Zendaya’s first thought was that it was a bunch of human organs. It wasn’t her fault that she and Normani binge watched a bunch of horror films before they came to Blackwood Mountain. She bit her lip and crept over to it. The so-called ‘pile of organs’ turned out to be a pig’s head.

Zendaya cursed loudly. “Hey, what the hell?”

Normani came up behind her. “Somebody made a snowman with this thing too? God, that’s hella creepy.” She scrunched her nose. “And is that a note?”

She knelt down and picked it up. It read ‘Welcome Back’ in big red letters. Zendaya assumed that it was blood.

“This has to be from Camila or Ashley. They’re just trying to mess with up,” she assured Normani.

Normani shuddered. “That’s fucked up. I don’t like this.”

Just then, the lights around them turned off.

“Zendaya!” Normani screeched.

“The hell is going on? Oh God, I don’t want to die,” she panicked.

Her girlfriend bit down on her lip. “Hey, Z? Let’s forget my panties. I kind of just want to head back to the lodge.”

“Agreed.”


	4. Chapter Three: Isolation

**EIGHT HOURS UNTIL DAWN**

**23:00**

Ariana, Camila, and Ashley sat around a table with the Ouija board in the middle. Ashley was leaning back in her chair and drumming her fingers on the table’s surface. Ariana looked over at Camila as she read the instructions out loud.

“So it says here: ‘to communicate with the spirit world, you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the Spirit-master,’ which is me-” Camila read loudly.

“It doesn’t say that,” Ariana argued.

“...and all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion-”

Ashley rolled her eyes. “Come on, Camila. This is serious.”

Camila stuck her tongue out at her blue-haired friend. “Oh, I’m _dead_ serious.”

“Guys,” Ariana warned her friends. “Stop, I want to try this. And I don’t want Camila’s sexual fantasies and stupid jokes to ruin everything.”

“My jokes are not stupid, Ari,” Camila argued.

Ashley chuckled. “No offense, they kind of are.”

Ariana placed her hand on the counter. Camila did so next and placed it slightly closer to Ariana’s hand. She blushed at the contact. Ashley placed her hand on the last corner.

Camila cleared her throat. “Okay, let’s hope this works. Ariana, since you’re a recent convert, why don’t you be our medium today?”

“Alright,” Ariana agreed. She looked up towards the ceiling. “Anyone there? Will you reveal yourself to us, if you’re there?”

They waited for a few seconds. Ariana began to think that nothing was going to happen. They’d probably end up going off to play another board game while they waited for Lauren to get out of the bath.

The counter started moving. A chorus of interjections erupted through the dark room.

“Wait a minute.”

“Did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Guys,” Camila hissed. “It’s moving again.”

The counter moved to the ‘H’.

“What’s it spelling?” Ashley asked impatiently.

The counter moved to the ‘E’.

“Are you moving it, Ari?” Camila looked over at Ariana.

The counter moved to the ‘L’.

“I swear it’s just moving,” Ariana insisted.

The counter moved to the ‘P’.

Ashley narrowed her eyes. “Holy shit,” she said. “I can’t believe this. This is so fucked up.”

Ariana tilted her head to the side. “‘Help’? How are we supposed to help?” She looked at Camila and Ashley. Both of them seemed to shocked to even look back at her.

“You gotta ask who it is that needs help.”

She nodded her head at Camila’s words. Ariana looked back up towards the ceiling. “Who are you?”

The counter shifted again. Ariana gasped loudly. Camila frowned. “It’s moving again.”

The counter moved to the ‘W’, the ‘A’, and then the ‘R’.

“War? What kind of war?” Camila questioned with furrowed brows.

Ashley brought her finger to her lips. “Shh, it’s moving again.”

The counter moved to the ‘N’ and then to the ‘I’.

“Warni…” Ariana trailed off. The counter once again moved to the ‘N’ and then the ‘G’. “Warning!?”

Camila exhaled shakily. “We really need to find out who we’re talking to.”

Ariana nodded. “Okay, okay, um…” She looked back up at the ceiling once again. “We can’t help you if we don’t know who you are. Can you tell us?”

The counter moved again. Ashley swore rather loudly.

“Oh gosh, here it goes,” Ariana breathed out.

“F,” Camila read out.

“R,” Ashley read afterwards.

“I,” Ariana read slowly.

“E.”

“N.”

“D.”

She pursed her lips. “Friend. Whose friend?”

Camila’s forehead creased. “Oh, this can’t be serious! This is a bunch of crap. We need to stop now.”

“No,” Ashley snarled. “Ask it whose friend it is.” Ariana and Camila exchanged hesitant glances. The blue-haired girl slammed her fist on the table. “Fucking ask it now!”

Ariana bit her lip. “Ashley, come on… It’s gotta be a joke.”

Ashley’s head snapped to the side to look at her. “No,” she spat. “If you don’t ask it right now, I’ll fucking-”

“Ash, calm down,” Camila warned her. Ariana trembled in fear. When Ashley was upset, she was very scary. “Ariana, ask who it is.”

“Who are we speaking to? Vero? Is that you?”

The pointer moved to the ‘Yes’.

“Oh, God,” Ariana breathed out.

“This is so messed up,” Camila stated the obvious.

Ariana turned to look at Ashley. Her expression seemed to be a mix of shock and hurt.

“Hey, Ashley, are you okay?”

Ashley nodded quickly. “I’m fine.”

“We can always stop if you get uncomfortable-”

“No,” Ashley interrupted her. “I want to hear what it says.”

Ariana swallowed nervously. They were talking to Vero. This was the girl that they killed. This was the girl that _she_ killed. She willingly participated in this prank. She allowed her to run off into the woods. Vero’s death was all her fault.

“I-I don’t know where to start,” Ariana stammered.

Camila reached over to squeeze Ariana’s shoulder reassuringly. “Think about it. If this is actually Vero, we can find out what happened that night.”

“Okay, okay.” Ariana took a deep breath. “Vero, if you can hear this… We all want to apologize for what happened.”

“It was stupid and mean,” Camila added on. “We’re sorry.”

“We’re so sorry Vero…”

The counter started moving again.

“B- E- T- R-” Ariana read out.

“I don’t like where this is going,” Camila mumbled.

“A- Y- E- D,” Ariana finished. “Betrayed. Oh no.”

“What does she mean?” Ashley asked.

Camila shrugged her shoulders. “Shit, it’s still going.”

“God… K- I- L- L- E- D. No! That’s not what happened,” Ariana cried out.

“Killed?” Ashley asked in disbelief.

Ariana let out a loud sob. Her emotions were getting to the best of her. Whenever she was under pressure, she tended to freak out. Ariana developed Generalized Anxiety Disorder as a teenager. According to her psychiatrist, it only worsened after the accident with Vero and Lucy. “We didn’t _kill_ them! It was just a prank!”

“Ari, calm down,” Camila spoke softly. “We need to find out what she means.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. None of us did!”

Ashley looked absolutely livid. “Guys, what the fuck does she mean?”

“Ask her what she means! It’s the only way to find out. Ask her now,” Camila ordered her.

“Okay. How did you die? Vero, what happened to you?” Ariana asked for clarification.

The counter started moving again.

“L- I- B-” Ariana spelled out slowly.

Camila’s eyes lit up. “Library! Maybe there’s something in the library.”

“P- R- O- O-” she spelled out again.

Camila exhaled softly. “Proof. There’s proof. Proof in the library.”

The spirit board suddenly shook and then flipped off the table. Ariana screamed loudly as the three of them jumped back.

Ariana shook her head in disbelief. “Holy shit,” Camila whispered. She turned to look at Ashley. She almost wished she didn’t.

“You know what? No! This is bullshit. This isn’t real,” Ashley seethed.

“Ashley, I don’t know what’s going on,” Ariana admitted timidly.

Ashley laughed mirthlessly and rolled her eyes. “Listen, I don’t know. I don’t know if you think messing with me is somehow going to help me with my grief or whatever, but this is not cool.”

“You wanted to use the spirit board,” Ariana protested.

Camila took a step forward towards Ashley. “Hey, calm down. It’s not Ari’s fault!”

“I don’t need this now, okay?” Ashley croaked. Ariana could tell that she was trying her best not to cry. “You guys are fucking full of it. Screw you!”

Ashley stormed off loudly, leaving Ariana and Camila alone to deal with their shock.

“Should we go after her?” Ariana asked quietly.

Camila shook her head slowly with a frown. “She’ll be okay. Let’s just give her some time.”

“That was _so_ crazy. The pointer flew off the table!”

“I mean if you were faking it, you did a pretty good job at it.

“I wasn’t faking anything,” Ariana protested. “I think we should do what it says and go into the library.”

**23:22**

“Ally?” Her heartbeat quickened when she heard only the wind reply to her question.

Ally screamed.

“Ally!?” Dinah shouted with a frightened expression.

Dinah rushed forward and climbed up on top of the fallen tree. She nearly slipped as she reached the top. “Ooof. Fuck nuggets!” She jumped down from the tree and looked around worriedly.

Ally was nowhere to be seen.

This was going to be a huge problem. Since Ally was so tiny, she could fit anywhere. Ally could literally hide in any tiny place available.

“Allyson? Ah, come on. Ally? Buddy?”

Dinah noticed a tractor near the path she was on. She trotted over to it and pulled the door open. “You in there, sweet cheeks?” To her disappointment, Ally wasn’t there. She jumped down and got back on the trail.

Near the tractor was yet another totem. Dinah wondered if the totem would actually tell her where Ally was. The last two did depict something to do with Ally. She knelt down, This totem looked very similar to the one where she saw Ariana getting punched in the face. This time there was a scorpion with red accents carved into it.

Dinah turned it over. The image that was shown didn’t depict Ally, but instead showed a horde of deer closing on two figures. She frowned deeply, wondering if it meant that Ally was being attacked by a bunch of deer. Dinah gently put the totem down and continued on her way.

She passed under a fallen tree. A weird mask that was hanging from the fallen tree appeared out of nowhere. Dinah screamed loudly and started flailing. “Ah! Woah! Christ! That scared the blue out of my jeans. The hell is that doing here?”

Dinah brought her hands up and cupped them over her mouth. “Ally? Hon? Light of my life? I totally promise I won’t murder you when I find you.”

She continued walking quickly. Ally popped out of nowhere and screamed. She held up antlers to her ears.

Dinah screamed impossibly louder.

“Oh my gosh!” Ally giggled.

“Oh my… Fuck no.”

“That was so good!”

“Um, no!? Ally, are you crazy?” Dinah rushed out, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

Ally cackled and reached into her pocket. “Babe, you gotta see this. Oh my gosh.”

Dinah shook her head violently. “Oh no, I’m not going to see anything! Nope!”

Her girlfriend showed her her phone and pressed the camera app. She pressed play. Dinah watched as Ally recorded herself walking out and then getting jumpscared by Ally. If she wasn’t scared shitless, she’d admit that it was actually funny.

“Y-You recorded that?” Dinah stammered out.

Ally nodded vigorously. “Yup! Take a look at it. Your face? Iconic!”

“I was scared, Ally! You can’t just jump out at somebody in the middle of the woods. It’s scary. Not cool, dude.”

“Wait.” Ally furrowed her brows. “Did I actually scare you?”

“If you send that to anyone,” Dinah threatened. “I’ll… _kill…_ you.”

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “I didn’t know you had such an adorable scream, Dinah Jane! Guess you never really know someone unless you scare the pants off ‘em!”

“As far as I can tell, my pants are still on,” Dinah countered.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Looks like you’ll have to try harder.”

Ally took a step over to her very tall girlfriend. “A challenge, ‘ey?” Her lips curved into a smile. “Well I hope you’re strapped in, cause you’re about to feel the full force of my mind-melting thrill skills.”

Dinah started walking again. She didn’t have to walk very far to get distracted because she noticed another totem right near a tree. She made her way towards it and knelt down.

“Why do you always stop for those things?” Ally inquired.

Dinah shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. They look cool. Plus I get to see a whole bunch of cool things.”

“Like?”

She bit her lip. She didn’t feel like sharing to Ally that she saw her bloodied and bruised or with her jaw ripped off. “Uh, I saw someone punch Ariana in the face in one of them. And I saw a horde of deer surround two people. I think it was Normani and Zendaya actually. Their body types most fit them.”

“Well, good. I hope those deer end up annihilating Normani,” she hissed. She knelt down next to Dinah and examined the totem. “Wow, it looks like a pig. A yellow pig, to be exact. Can I look at it this time?”

Dinah shrugged. “Sure. Just tell me what you see.”

Ally nodded and picked the totem up. She turned it over. Dinah watched as Ally’s look of curiosity morph into confusion. The lines on Ally’s forehead reminded Dinah of one of those rows of crops on those corn fields.

“So, what did you see?”

She put the totem down. “I saw Lauren. She was in some sort of cave and climbing up the wall near a water wheel.”

“Hm, I wonder what that means,” Dinah commented.

Ally laughed. “Maybe nothing. I doubt anyone would want to punch Ariana in the first place. She’s too sweet and kind.”

“Alright, let’s get going.”

Dinah helped Ally stand back up again and made their way towards the path. Dinah started walking further ahead. She stopped when she suddenly felt that Ally wasn’t following her. She frowned and turned back.

Ally was standing near a tree and examining something on it. “Well, well. Look at this little lovebird carving.” Dinah raised a brow and stood behind her so she could get a better look. Her face fell when she saw it was one of the many hearts that she carved into places around the lodge. The ‘DJ+N’ was taunting her. “A ‘DJ’ and an ‘N’. Any idea of what that could stand for?”

“Uh…” Dinah trailed off and scratched her head. “Could be anybody? ‘Don Julio and… Naomi’?”

Ally snorted. “Or maybe ‘Dinah Jane and Normani’?” Dinah’s breath hitched. She was pretty sure that she looked so shell-shocked in that moment. “Oh, relax! I just didn’t realize you were so sappy. Pun intended!”

Dinah sighed slowly. “I may be a tough, rugged, butch-y lesbian. But deep down? I’m in touch with my feelings. I’m not afraid to show a little affection now and then.”

“Oh yeah? You gonna show me some affection later?”

“Girl,” she drawled. “All kinds of affection.”

“Is that a check I can cash?”

“...Wink!”

Ally laughed at her. “Alright, let’s go, Casanova.”

They crossed a bridge over a waterfall. Dinah was surprised that the water wasn’t frozen, considering that it was cold as balls out. She did read somewhere that rushing water never froze because it went too fast.

It was so beautiful outside. The snow-covered trees gave Dinah a sense of tranquility. As her footsteps made crunching noises in the snow, she couldn’t help but feel like she was some sort of queen. The queen of crunchy snow, to be exact.

“Wow, this place is like a winter wonderland!” Ally noted with glee. She then broke into the chorus of “Walking In A Winter Wonderland”, causing Dinah to chuckle at her girlfriend’s adorable antics.

Dinah grinned. “I know how to hook a girl up.”

A loud screech was heard. Dinah and Ally stopped in their tracks.

“The hell was that?” she rasped.

Ally shivered and trembles with wide-eyes. “Was it someone screaming?”

“It had to be an animal. A squirrel or something.”

“Brr,” Ally groaned. “I wasn’t aware we were on our way to Creep-town.”

They walked a few more feet. Dinah stopped Ally when she heard rustling from the forest. Something didn’t sound right. Ally opened her mouth to say something, but Dinah quickly silenced her. “Don’t say a word,” she whispered. “I think I heard someone.” Her girlfriend bit her lip and nodded. Dinah scooped up some snow from the ground and made a snowball. She aimed it at a nearby pine tree. She waited a few more seconds before throwing the ball right at the trunk.

At the impact, a deer jumped out from behind the tree. It started the two of them so much that they fell over onto the ground. Dinah moved over to shield Ally just in case that wicked thing came towards them. The deer seemed too freaked out though and went galloping into the opposite direction.

“That thing almost killed us,” Ally hissed. “Never again.”

Dinah pulled Ally up onto her feet and led them down the path. It was getting to the point where Dinah was getting impatient. She really wanted to go to that guest cabin and get it on with Ally, like she had intended to in the first place.

They came across an old shed. “Charming,” Dinah noted.

“It’s everything you described, Dinah.”

Dinah’s nose crinkled. “Talk some sense, mate.”

“The cabin? I love it.”

“Babe, this isn’t the cabin.”

“Oh, well, I still want to see this place. Maybe Ashley will exile Zendaya and Normani to this dump.”

Dinah rolled her eyes and pushed the door open to the shack. It was pretty rundown. The cracks in the wall were larger than her fine ass. There was only one piece of furniture, a table. On that table was a mask.

She picked it up and looked at it. Dinah noticed that it looked like one of those gas masks used in one of the wars in the 20th century. She turned it around. This mask belonged to someone named Harry Styles.

“Hm.” Dinah could use it to scare Ally and get revenge. But poor, sweet Ally was washing her hands in the nearby river. If anything scared her, she’d fall into the river and get soaked. That was no way to get laid.

Still, she had to show Ally her mask.

“Hey, check out this mask!” Dinah enthused.

Ally stood up and looked at it. Her nose scrunched in apparent disgust. “Ew, why was  that in there?”

“I think it’s so weird,” she replied. Dinah played with the mask by tossing it from hand to hand.

She nodded her head. “It creeps me out.”

“Mhm,” Dinah hummed. “I think you like it.” She put the mask on her face and stepped over to Ally and placed her hands on her hips. Ally’s eyes widened and she attempted to pry Dinah’s hands off of her, but Dinah was too strong. “Wanna make out?” she grunted.

“Dinah Jane, stop this madness right now,” she reprimanded.

Dinah pouted. “Aw, babe. Fine. It’s your loss.” She took the mask off and tossed it to the side. “I still think it’s really cool.”

Ally sighed exasperatedly. “I guess I should have kept in mind that dating your hot bod’ would also mean that I’d have to deal with your idiocy.”

“Alllyyy,” Dinah whined.

Dinah started walking away from the shack with Ally right behind her. A loud gust of wind pushed against her and brought some of her hair into her mouth. She groaned and spat it out. Ally whimpered.

Another deer popped out, scaring the living daylights out of Ally. The poor girl screamed at the top of her lungs.

“What’s the deal with all the deer?” Ally asked in a panicked tone.

“I’m not sure if I want to know-”

Ally screamed again. Dinah whipped her head from left to right to try and see what freaked her girlfriend out now. Ally was shaking violently and pointing at the path in front of them.

A deer was dying. “Oh, God,” Dinah gasped. Ally clutched onto Dinah’s arm. Together they slowly approached the dying deer.

“I don’t think it’s going to make it,” her girlfriend whimpered.

“I don’t know…”

“Dinah, you have to do something!”

Dinah swallowed nervously. She knelt down near the deer. “Hey bud… Hey buddy.”

“The poor thing,” Ally said.

She began to stroke its head while Ally stroked a part of the deer’s chest. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” Dinah’s heart clenched at the pained look in the poor creature’s eyes. “I know you’re in so much pain. It’ll be over soon, it’ll be over soon,” she assured her.

Ally screamed again very loudly. Dinah swore in shock. The body of the deer that she and Ally were previously comforting had been dragged away rather quickly.

“Oh my God! Run! Run!” Dinah grabbed Ally’s hand and pulled her up. The two of them ran at full speed away.

They came across another wooden bridge. “There’s a bridge. There’s a bridge! Over here, Dinah!”

Dinah was quick to react. While Ally was all the way at the other side, Dinah jumped over the bridge and landed next to her. “It’s gotta be a bear,” Dinah gasped as she ran next to Ally.

“Look! Look!”

Dinah noticed that they could go two ways. About a few hundred feet down the path was a gate that led to the cabin. The only issue was that it was a long run. On the other hand, they could climb up the nearby slope and get there even faster. Ally had short legs so that may end up being a challenge.

Dinah bent over. “Ally, quick! Get on my back.” Ally quickly jumped on Dinah’s back. She hoisted her up and carried her to the slope. “Hold on tight,” she ordered. Dinah started climbing up the cliff. It wasn’t easy, but she managed. Dinah reached the top of the hill.

She then slid down and landed in the front yard of the cabin. Ally climbed off of Dinah. Dinah bolted towards the door, but then stopped when she heard Ally scream.

She cursed under her breath and ran back to help Ally up. “C’mon, we gotta go!” Dinah pulled Ally up onto her feet and practically dragged her to the front of the cabin. She grabbed the key from the ground and opened the door. Ally scrambled inside. Dinah followed after her. She slammed the door behind them and locked it.

“Oh my God! That was so close,” Ally panted.

“Nah…” Dinah said breathlessly.

Ally tilted her head to the side. “Huh?”

“I had it under control the entire time.”

“Bull-crap,” she empathized each part of that word.

Dinah laughed shakily. “No, hundred percent. Hundred percent. Hundred and ten, actually.”

Her girlfriend groaned loudly. “I feel like I just ran a marathon!” Dinah nodded her head. “I wonder, was it a bear that was chasing us?”

“It has to be,” she agreed. “Those things are crazy fast.”

“I mean...I didn’t see it.”

“Don’t worry. That thing’s not gonna come barging in.”

Ally narrowed her eyes and scowled. “How could you be so sure?”

Dinah rolled her eyes. “Ally, bears don’t know how to open cabin doors.”

“I’ve seen them open car doors...on the internet.”

She looked at Ally’s apprehensive look and frowned. Internet superstitions always threw people off. “This isn’t the internet. This is real life! And I promise you that no bear or anything is going to open that cabin door.”

She nodded as a small smile ghosted on her lips. “You’re right. I guess I’m almost feeling relaxed again. Almost.” Ally made her way over to the lightswitch that was just across from the doorway. She attempted to turn it on, but no lights came on. “Hmph. Why am I not surprised?” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Dinah. “This is not the cozy chalet I was promised, Dinah.”

“I know, I know. It’s a bit drafty, right?” Dinah tried to sound optimistic.

“Well, there is a fireplace.”

Dinah took a step closer to Ally and smirked. “We don’t need a fire to heat things up.” Ally held her hand up and rolled her eyes. Sometimes she really did sound like a huge fuckgirl. She’d have to watch herself.

“Dinah Jane, I am a lady. A lady needs a proper romantic setting.” She sauntered away from Dinah and plopped down on the couch. Ally shivered as she leaned back against the cushions. “A lady would like to cuddle up with her girl by a nice cozy fire bathed in atmospheric mood lighting.”

“I mean,” Dinah argued. “It’ll get nice and toasty once we’re rubbing up against each other.”

“Dinah.”

“Huh?”

“Fire and mood lighting, please.”

Ally began to check herself for something. She gasped loudly in realization. “Oh, no! Crap! Dinah!” She continued to look around and bounced up. Ally checked the cushions for something. “Where is it?” Dinah furrowed her brows and took a few steps closer to her. “Gone! It’s gone, great!”

“Hey, slow down. What’s gone?”

“My freakin’ phone, Sherlock!” Ally yelled. “I can’t find it! I must have dropped it somewhere.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I can’t lose my phone, my parents will kill me.”

“Oh, shit…” Dinah frowned and scratched her head. “You can always get a new one.”

Ally shot her an angry glare. “That’s like my fourth one this year.”

Dinah sighed. “Well, uh, I’ll help you look for it.”

“It’s gotta be outside,” she grumbled.

“I don’t think we wanna go out there right now with the bear or whatever-it-is.”

“Alright, alright.”

Dinah started her mission to get Ally in the mood. She felt terrible. Losing a phone was always the worst. So, as a good girlfriend, she’d do whatever it took to make Ally Brooke happy and comfortable.

The matches were right there on the table near the fireplace.

“Lookie-lookie, who’s gonna fire up some nookie!”

“You’ve been dying to use that line since we got here, haven’t you?” Ally asked boredly.

Dinah just sent her a wide grin and put the matches in her jacket pocket. On a dresser near the window, there was a book and an electric lantern. She turned the lantern on. “This should take care of mood lighting,” she said excitedly. She picked the book up and took a look at it. “Looks like we weren’t the only ones to meet the friendly neighborhood terror bears,” Dinah noted.

“That does not make me feel better,” she commented.

Dinah hummed and looked through the book. The story in the book told a tale of a merchant stealing pelts from a bear. The “Great Spirit” knocked down a tree and forced the merchant to find another path. He met the bear again and the bear ended up getting his revenge.

On the next page was an explanation on Native American symbols.

_“Native American hunters used symbols and signs scratched on to trees or daubed on to walls to communicate with other tribe members. Many symbols conveyed religious or mystical beliefs, others warned of danger or offered protection, and some told of good hunting grounds. Most symbols were specific to the tribe that used it and would be unrecognizable to other tribes.”_

The butterfly symbol that was found on the back on most of the totems was used for visions or dreams of the universe.

The symbol that she saw on the mines from a while ago was described to be a spell or ward to keep evil spirits away. Dinah wondered what sort of evil spirits the Native Americans were afraid of. Maybe they were afraid of the miners.

Dinah glanced at the hunting rifle on the wall. “Oh man. Ally! Look at this.”

“Is it a fire?” Ally questioned hopefully.

“Nope. Way cooler.” She grabbed the rifle and posed with it. “How do you like me now? I’m like a sexy huntress.”

Ally rolled her eyes. “Oh my god. Why do guns make men go completely bonkers?”

“Hey,” Dinah warned. “I’m not a man.”

“Couldn’t have fooled me,” she said sassily. “Because only men wouldn’t understand that you need to cater to your girlfriend’s needs all the time. I thought lesbians would do it better!”

“Gosh, don’t be rude, Smallz.” Dinah lifted the gun up and aimed. “Puh-KOW! Puh-KOW! Cool, huh?” Ally’s narrowed eyes and curled lips made her think otherwise. Dinah sighed and put the gun down. “She’ll never understand what we have.”

“Unless you want to make out with an ice sculpture, I suggest you get a fire going. Pronto.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dinah waved her off and sauntered over to the fireplace. She put a few logs in there and then knelt down to strike a match. She grinned widely as she successfully lit it and brought it to the logs. “Woman one, fire zero,” she remarked as the fire caught onto the logs.

Ally clapped her hands excitedly. “Very nice. Bravo.”

“Alright, my lady. What comes next?”

Ally was silent for a second and seemed to think about something. She then smiled. “Now, you take off your shirt, big girl.”

Dinah beamed and pulled her navy vest and then her flannel jacket off. All she had on now was her jeans and white tank undershirt.

“Is it your turn?”

Ally smiled seductively and took her parka off. She then pulled off her blouse at a very slow, teasing rate. Dinah was practically licking her lips when she revealed her white and pink floral bra. She then reached for her own boots and jeans and pulled them down. A semi-naked Ally was her favorite Ally, after fully naked Ally. Dinah smiled widely.

She leaned over and attempted to kiss her. Ally’s hand on her chest stopped her. “Hold on, wait.”

“Is something wrong?” Dinah inquired worriedly.

“I’m kind of just a little nervous, okay? I mean I… The whole thing with Normani on the tree,” she mumbled.

“Hey.” Dinah brought her hand up to Ally’s cheek. “Ally, I really like you. Like _really_ like you. What happened between me and Normani? That’s over. She’s with Zendaya now. I’m with you.”

“I’m sorry,” Ally said. “It’s so hard for me to keep this up.”

Dinah frowned. “Keep what up? What are you talking about?”

“Look I act like this total confident and a super sexy babe. But underneath, I gotta be honest, I’m really insecure,” she admitted. “All my life I’ve been considered this sweet, innocent church girl. Once I got into high school, I started exploring myself more. I got more confident and comfortable with my sexuality. As much as I hate to admit it, Normani really helped me with that. And now, I’m this total ‘beauty queen’ type of girl,” Ally elaborated. “But still, deep down, there’s that sweet girl that went to church every single Sunday and was a total ugly dork.”

Dinah immediately felt bad. She realized that she should have treated Ally a lot better. She was so much more than what people put her out to be. Dinah cared about her as a person and not just because she was really hot. Dinah wished she could punch anyone and everyone who ever made her girl feel so insecure. “Listen, I know what it’s like to feel insecure. Every time I go on a date with someone I wonder if they actually like me or just want me for the hot sex. My reputation has really ruined me. Because I was such a boastful idiot, Vero is gone. But Ally, I wanna tell you that it’s okay to be insecure. Everyone is!” Dinah smiled and kissed her nose softly. “But I know you know how to handle yourself. You might call it a front, but I know it’s real. My girl’s feisty and sweet.”

Ally looked at her endearingly. “Dinah Jane Hansen, I knew you were such a sap.” She scooted closer to her. “I’m so glad you’re _my_ sap though.”

“Me too.”

“So um,” she breathed out. “Do you want to continue what we started?”

“Only if you want to, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Ally responded by bringing their lips together. Dinah smiled into the kiss. It wasn’t very intense or rough like all the times they had sex. It was sweet and endearing. Dinah could get with that. It was all about making Ally feel good. She pulled her girlfriend onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her. Dinah slipped her tongue in and shivered at the sound of Ally’s satisfied moan.

It only got better when Ally started sucking on her tongue.

Dinah felt cold. Even with the warmth coming from the fire, she felt that it was necessary to get Ally off as soon as she could so they could cuddle. She still wanted it to be sensual. Ally had to know that Dinah cared about her.

She brought her lips to the base of Ally’s neck and sucked gently. Ally squeaked from above her and dragged her hands down Dinah’s back. Dinah loved having her back scratched and massaged and she was glad Ally was able to comply.

Dinah nipped and sucked at Ally’s neck while she massaged Dinah’s lower back. She shuddered and pulled away. Ally’s eyes met Dinah’s and they both smiled at each other brightly.

“Can I take this off?” Dinah gestured to Ally’s bra.

Ally nodded and chuckled. “Yeah, babe. You’re acting like this is our first time.”

“I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I like this. You being all sensual and loving is a nice change from your usual roughness,” she noted.

Dinah kissed her briefly in reply. She expertly reached for the back of her girlfriend’s bra and unclasped it. Ally wiggled it off. Dinah bit down her lip as she was met by Ally’s glorious breasts. She slowly moved her hands up to massage her mounds. Ally moaned as she kneaded them slowly. Her girlfriend brought their lips together. Their kiss was slow just like the way Dinah was playing with her breasts.

Ally bit down on Dinah’s lip when she surprised her by squeezing and tugging at her sensitive buds. Ally’s lip biting made her aroused and she felt herself getting just a little more wetter by the way Ally was reacting.

She got bored of playing with her girlfriend’s breasts. Well, she wasn’t totally bored. Ally was just whimpering so much that she _had_ to give her a release. Dinah lifted Ally off of her lap and laid her down on the couch. She tugged her girlfriend’s panties off. Her mouth watered at the sight of a completely naked Ally Brooke.

“You’re so beautiful,” Dinah whispered.

Ally smiled sheepishly and blushed. “Thank you, Dinah.”

Dinah brought her index finger to Ally’s folds. She was wet for sure. Dinah carefully maneuvered her finger through her folds and pinched her clit. Ally’s hips bucked in response. Her lips curled into a smirk as she continued to stroke and pinch her girlfriend’s clit.

“Ugh,” Ally moaned. “I-Inside, Dinah.”

Dinah nodded and plunged her first finger in. Ally squealed cutely. There was no way anybody could be cute and sexy except for Ally Brooke. She began pumping her finger in and out of her girlfriend. She moaned and writhed below her.

When she was least expecting it, she added a second finger.

“God, yes!” Ally screamed. “Please keep going!” Dinah thrusted in her girlfriend, curling her fingers against her girlfriend’s walls. She was pleased to evoke a loud moan. Her thumb moved to stroke Ally’s clit as she fucked her at a steady pace.

Ally kicked her harshly. Dinah figured that it was time that she picked up the pace. She started thrusting faster. Her thumb flicked Ally’s clit faster. Ally’s moans became louder and more frequent. She was absolutely loving this.

“Dinah, Dinah, Dinah,” Ally chanted like Dinah was her mantra.

Dinah grinned and curled her fingers inside her, stroking against Ally’s spongy walls. “Do you like that? Do you like the way I fuck you?”

“Yesss,” Ally whined. “I’m so close.”

She wasn’t lying. Ally’s walls were starting to clamp around Dinah’s fingers so she thrusted faster and harder. Her hand started to hurt, but she didn’t mind. This was all about making Ally feel good.

Harder and harder, faster and faster.

“Dinah, oh my God!”

Dinah curled her fingers and hit the spot that she knew made Ally come undone in seconds. Ally moans were amplified when she came, walls clamping down on Dinah’s long fingers. She continued to pump into her so Ally could prolong her orgasm.

Ally’s eyes fluttered shut and she sighed in satisfaction. Dinah took that as her cue to pull out. She did so and brought her fingers to her lips and then sucked them.

“You’re so good at that,” she complimented her. “Sex goddess right here.”

“Damn straight,” Dinah replied as she reached down to grab the discarded bra and panties from the floor. Ally took them from her and slipped her underwear back on.

A loud crash was heard.

Dinah cursed loudly as the two of them sat up. “Dinah, what the heck was that!?”

“I don’t know!”

“Can you please go find out?”

Dinah stood up and walked over around the couch. Her eyes widened. It was Ally’s phone, and it was playing “Vogue” on full blast. “Shit, it’s your phone!”

“How is it my phone!?”

“I don’t know. It just, it just came through the window!”

Ally stood up. Dinah’s eyes widened. She looked pissed. Her face was flushed, jaw was clenched, and she was gritting her teeth. “Oh for fuck’s sake. Goddamnit!” Dinah nearly choked on her breath. Ally _never_ swore. And when she did, it meant business. “Those goddamned assholes probably followed us out here to fuck with us and wanted to interrupt us when we were getting down to business!”

Ally marched towards the front door, unlocked it, and stepped outside. “Hey! Yeah! Pricks! That means _you_! I _know_ you’re out there! The _fuck_ are you trying to do!? You want to ruin our fun _that_ bad!? Well, guess what? You can’t! You can’t ruin our good time! Because Dinah Jane and I just _fucked_! That’s right! We just had _sex_! And it was _hot_! So _enjoy_ it! Because we’re about to go for round two, yep! Suck on that, _fuckers_!”

Ally stormed back inside and slammed the door. “Oh, give me a break.” She stepped over to the window nearest the front door. “I can’t believe those idiots-”

All of a sudden, something grabbed Ally. She screamed loudly and started flailing. DInah was too much of in shock to react. She could only watch as a giant, sharp, bony hand grab Ally and forcefully pull her out the window.

**23:14**

“Do you really think our friends were communicating with us?” Camila asked Ariana as they walked towards the library.

“I don’t know,” Ariana replied shakily. She crossed her arms over her chest and shuddered. “I don’t know if I wish they were or I wish they weren’t.”

Camila gave her a reassuring smile and reached over to squeeze her hand. Ariana bit back a wide smile. “I guess we should find out.”

The Frangipane library was huge. It had two levels. The second level, which was where Ariana and Camila were on now was small, but had a balcony that overlooked the first floor. The first level had most of the bookshelves and had large windows that overlooked the mountain side. If it wasn’t as dark and creepy as hell, Ariana would think this was her favorite part of the lodge.

Ariana noticed something pink on the table near the stairs that went down to the bottom level. She took a few steps closer and examined it. It was Vero’s glasses case. Sometimes Vero used to wear glasses. She picked it up and turned it over. The glasses case was surprisingly very dirty. Ariana didn’t think Vero wore her glasses once during the getaway last year. The initials ‘VI’ were painted in black.

Camila held the candle in her hand up closer to Ariana. “Here, I thought you might want to see it better.”

Ariana smiled thankfully. “Yeah, I need that. You rock, Mila.” She put the glasses case back down.

“Yeah, it’s… no problem.” Camila handed her the candle.

The two of them made their way down the stairs of the library to the first floor.

“Ashley looked really freaked out at the seance,” Ariana remarked.

“Yeah, I mean she looked like she was keeping it together, but-”

“Do you think we shouldn’t have mentioned Vero and Lucy?”

Camila shrugged her shoulders. “I mean. They were the reason we came back up here.”

“But not to have a seance!” Ariana adjusted her beanie with her unoccupied hand. “I think we took things too far.”

The library made Ariana uneasy. Even with the candle to guide them through the place, she was scared. She shined the light up by a door of the right side of the library. Ariana placed her hand on the cold handle.

“Locked,” Ariana hissed. “Why does everything have to be locked?”

She turned around and looked at the left side of the room. A bunch of bright light came seeping through the floorboards. Wait, the floorboards? Ariana edged over to the light source. She stood corrected. There was a bright light coming from the vent that led to the room below the library.

Ariana jumped up when she saw something move. Camila gave her a concerned look. Ariana just shook her head.

She walked over to one of the bookshelves. A bunch of books flew out and hit Ariana on the head.

“Ah, frick!” Ariana screamed. Camila ran to her side and placed her hands on her shoulders to study her. “Holy crap.”

“Ari, are you okay?” Camila inquired.

Ariana nodded slowly. “I think so.” She noticed something behind the books. “Camila, look!”

“What is it?”

She frowned and poked her head closer to the wall behind the books. “It looks like… A button?”

Camila furrowed her brows and chuckled. “That’s so weird. Why would there be a button?” She shrugged her shoulders, looking over at Camila. The two of them were squished close to each other. Ariana’s shoulder was pressed against Camila’s. If she wasn’t scared, she’d find herself as red as a tomato. “There’s only one way to find out. Press the button, Ariana.”

Ariana pressed the button. The sound of something moving and walls shifting caught their attention. One of the bookshelves had a false back panel and now led to a dark passage.

“Whoa,” Camila breathed out in awe. “Panel opens? Head explodes. Bye-bye Camila Cabello.”

Ariana stifled a laugh and fixed her gaze on the passage. “Are we in a movie or something?

“If we are, I hope it’s a rom-com,” she said flirtatiously.

Ariana allowed herself to chuckle at that one and brought her hands up to her cheeks to hide the forming blush. She crept towards the secret passage. “Leave it to the Frangipanes to have secret passages in their house.”

“Maybe they didn’t even know it existed?” Camila’s attempt to sound optimistic failed. “This place is super old.”

“So, should we take a look?”

“After you, milady,” Camila suggested and bowed.

Ariana rolled her eyes. “Fat chance, Cabello. You’re going first.”

She handed Camila the candle to prove her point.

**23:19**

“Gee, thanks,” Camila deadpanned with a scowl. Ariana pouted and Camila had to give in. Poor girl had to be so freaked out after the seance and Ashley’s outburst. She’d do anything to help her out.

Camila took a deep breath and walked into the hidden room. She held the candle up and looked around. The room was small, not much larger than a janitor closet. Camila’s nose scrunched as she noticed a picture on a shelf to the right. It was a portrait of Vero and Lucy. Both of them were very close family friends of the Frangipanes so it would make sense as to why their picture would be there. Still, it felt very creepy.

As she picked it up to get a better look at it, she noticed something red on the back. Camila turned it around and gasped.

There was a threatening note in big letters that read:

 _“I WILL TAKE THEM AND BLEED THEM LIKE PIGS AND RIP THEIR SOFT LUSCIOUS SKIN OFF! FUCKING_ _16_ _YEARS._ _16_ _YEARS I WAITED FOR PRETTY LITTLE_

_VERONICA AND LUCIA”_

Camila bit back a scared gasp. That was so creepy. Whoever wrote that note was completely psychotic. She didn’t know anyone who would want to hurt either Vero or Lucy. Maybe Ashley and her family, but not Vero or Lucy.

She heard Ariana come in behind her. Camila turned to look at her. Her distress was evident on her features and definitely caused Ariana to tremble. “Mila? Is everything okay?

There was no point in trying to hide the truth from Ariana. She had to be honest. “Listen, Ari, I don’t want to freak you out… But look at this!”

“What _is_ that?” Ariana croaked.

“I think… I think this is what the spirit board wanted us to find,” Camila admitted.

Ariana’s lips pursed. “Let me see it.”

“It’s a threat! A terrible, disgusting threat against poor Vero and Lucy. They didn’t deserve this! Who the hell would want to hurt them?”

Ariana took the letter from Camila’s hands. She watched as the shorter girl read over the letter. Her eyes widened and she dropped it on the ground. “Oh my gosh. We have to find Ashley, like now.” Camila heard a door creak open. Both of them snapped their heads to the direction of the sound. “What was that?” She looked back at Camila, as if she had the answers to all her questions. She didn’t. Camila was just as frightened and confused as Ariana.

“Do you think someone was actually after Vero and Lucy?” Ariana asked timidly.

Camila frowned. “If so, that would be so messed up.”

Camila held her candle up and left the hidden room through the newly opened door. They found themselves in a hallway. On the table was a letter. Camila picked it up and glanced at it. It was a letter from Ashley’s mother. She seemed adamant on trying to make things right with the Native Americans that had ancestral ties to the mountain. She applauded her for doing so.

When she turned it around, she saw something strange.

_“Saw that crazy guy again,_

_Thurs 9.17pm - hanging around the generator shed,_

_I'm going to start keeping a record.”_

“Ashley’s mom seemed like she was really trying to make things right with the local tribes,” Ariana noted as she looked over Camila’s shoulder.

“Hm, the bad karma goes a long way back,” Camila agreed.

She stopped suddenly. An idea popped into her head. On her way up to the lodge, she saw a whole bunch of strange things. These things were connected to some sort of strange stalker man that was charged with arson. Camila had to wonder if that had anything to do with the creepiness they were dealing with at the moment.

“Hey, Ari,” Camila spoke slowly. “I’ve been thinking about something I saw earlier with Lauren.” Ariana raised a brow as if she was silently asking Camila to elaborate. “There was a wanted poster. It was like full-on western style, you know?”

“So?”

“And Lauren really thought someone was following her around…”

“Uh, so what!?” Ariana sounded incredulous and it made Camila wince. “Are you trying to say that there’s a criminal up on the mountain with us?”

“There was this message on the answering machine that I found. It was from this Sergeant saying that there was this guy that had just gotten out of prison and there was nothing he could do. It was some sort of warning,” Camila elaborated.

Ariana’s brows furrowed as she stuffed her hands in her hoodie pockets.

“I mean, maybe that was whoever was down in the basement before. You know, in the library? That light?”

Camila didn’t like the way Ariana’s face began to contort even more. She hated scaring her.

“Well, there was this guy I told you about-”

“What guy?” Ariana demanded.

“The guy that was threatening the Frangipanes! He said he wanted to get revenge by burning the whole lodge down.”

Camila pointed back to the hidden room. “And the letter I showed you… From the crazy psycho!”

Ariana narrowed her eyes. “Camila, if this is your way of trying to make me feel better, you’re fired.”

The door near them banged loudly. Camila sucked her breath in sharply.

Ashley screamed loudly.

“That was Ashley,” Ariana yelled in disbelief.

Camila gulped. “From the kitchen…”

Ariana rushed towards the door and swung it open. “Ashley!?”

“Ashley! Shit. Hold on, we’re coming,” Camila assured her as she rushed towards the door behind Ariana.

Suddenly, Ariana was pulled in and the door was slammed shut between them. Camila swore loudly and began banging on the door. Ariana’s screams and grunts echoed from the other room.

“Ariana!? What’s going on? Hey, let me in!”

“Help…” Ariana moaned.

Camila gritted her teeth and began ramming into the door. “Hold on, Ariana! I’m coming. Please tell me you’re okay!”

She forced the door down and looked around.

Ariana was lying on the ground unconscious.

Camila ran over to her side. “Ari! Ariana! Hey-”

A blunt force hit her in the head. It felt like someone’s fists, and everything went black.


	5. Chapter Four: Loyalty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's about to get violent... hold onto your hats, ladies and gents.

**SEVEN HOURS UNTIL DAWN**

**23:59**

“Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. What the fuck?” Dinah cursed.

She reached and grabbed the hunting rifle from the wall and the electric lantern from the dresser. Dinah barreled out of the cabin and headed towards the direction she saw Ally get dragged away. She didn’t have time to think. She just had to react.

“Allyson! Oh my god. Oh my god.”

Good thing Dinah played sports, because chasing Ally after eating like ten bags of hot Cheetos a day without her workout would be a tragedy.

“Ally! Ally…” Dinah called.

She reached a rushing river. She had two options. She could take the bridge across like a normal, safe person. Dinah could also jump across the tubing in the river and get across faster.

 _Faster,_ Dinah thought. _I have to get to Ally as fast as I can._

Dinah leaped onto the tubes. She held her hands out to try and keep her balance. She could easily slip because of how frozen the tubes were. Plus, the heavy-as-hell gun and lantern was not making her leapfrog experience very pleasant. She nearly slipped twice, but made her way across the river successfully.

“Ally! Ally! Allyson!” Dinah yelled as she climbed up a ledge.

She knelt down and pulled her gun out to use the scope. She closed one eye and then used the other to scope out the location of her girlfriend. Dinah looked around the area. Her heart raced when she caught a glimpse of a half-naked girl crawling through the snow and sighed in relief. That relief was short-lived. Just seconds later some sort of weird animal grabbed Ally and pulled her away.

“Jesus…” Dinah got back up. “Fuck, fuck! Ally! No!”

“No!” Ally screamed. “Argh, let me go! Dinah! Dinah! Help me!”

Dinah had to be quick. She could go down the cliff another way, or she could jump down. Now whenever Ashley told her to “jump off a cliff”, she could say that she already did.

Dinah did not hesitate to jump down the cliff. She screamed and started sliding down. The gun and the lantern slid out of her hand. “Holy shit,” she cursed and momentarily grabbed onto a branch to slow her fall. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

She landed not as harshly as she expected to. Dinah picked up the discarded lantern and gun and continued her chase.

“Keep going, Hansen,” she growled under breath.

She ducked under a log.

She jumped over the next log.

She ducked under another log.

She jumped over the final log.

Dinah reached a ledge. She breathed heavily and considered her options. She could either shimmy across the ledge or jump over the gaps.

“Okay, okay,” Dinah gave herself a half-assed pep talk. She jumped over the first gap with ease. She wasn’t so successful with her second gap and slipped. Dinah was able to pull herself back up before falling.

Dinah stopped at a narrow slope and a normal path. There was no stopping her now. Dinah knew her only option was to slide down the slope. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

“Oh shit. No, dammit, no!” Dinah flung herself down the slope. She screamed as her face rammed into a pileup of snow. Her face burned and she quickly pulled her face out of the snow and grabbed a branch to slow her down. Her bare arms were felt like they were burning against the cold snow. It was beyond uncomfortable.

Dinah groaned loudly as she reached the bottom of the slope. In front of her was a mine. She heard Ally’s screams come from there and cursed. She picked up her pace.

“Help me!”

“Oh shit. Oh shit,” Dinah gasped.

“Oh no… Dinah!”

Ally’s screams only spurred Dinah on. She entered the mines and nearly tripped as she leaped down the stairs.

Something stopped her from continuing. She noticed a totem right near the stairs. “Oh, what the hell?” She picked up the totem that depicted a horse with yellow accents and turned it over.

The image flashing before her showed herself kneeling down and petting a wolf. Dinah shrugged at what it could mean and put it down.

“Dinah! Dinah! Oh my God, please help! Help me!” Ally screamed painfully.

Dinah cursed and started running again. “I’m coming, Ally!”

She went down the mine’s path and ended up near an elevator. A small body was curled up on it. She expected the worst. Dinah remembered seeing the totem with Ally’s jaw ripped off. She shuddered and prayed that she wasn’t too late.

“Ally…” Dinah breathed.

She slowly approached the elevator. Ally’s jaw was still intact, but the poor girl looked so weak, bloodied, and bruised.

“No! Oh, God! No… Allyson! Oh, God… Ally! Ally! Are you okay?” Dinah rushed out as she knelt down next to her girlfriend.

Ally attempted to move and look at her, but she couldn’t. She was too weak. “...Help…”

Dinah reached out and tried to grab her. But by some cruel twist of fate, the elevator suddenly fell with her body still on there. “Ally! No!” Dinah screamed.

She heard a loud screech. She whipped her head around.

An unidentified figure was perched near the mine’s elevator and was glaring at her with big beady eyes. “Huh. What the fuck?” Dinah aimed her hunting rifle and shot the creepy figure. She decided to get her revenge and go after the attacker. She got up on her feet and rushed up the stairs of the mine, leaving the lantern on the floor.

 **February 2nd, 2015** \- **00:12**

Dinah jumped across the gap of the stairs. She panted heavily. This was not how she wanted things to go. She was in shock. Her eyes watered briefly.

Ally was _dead_ , and it was her fault.

Once again, she was faced with two options. She could climb the safe route or she could climb the fast way. Dinah wanted to kill that motherfucker, so she wanted to get to him as soon as possible.

Dinah climbed the right side of the wall. She grabbed a protruding piece of metal with her right hand. She gripped her left hand on another piece of metal. Dinah set her left foot on a nailed wood board and then her right foot on the piece of metal that was previously occupied by her right hand.

“Christ, come on. Come to Mama.”

Dinah took a deep breath. She had to jump across another huge gap, but she could do it.

Dinah jumped and grabbed onto a plate. The plate fell and so did she. Dinah screamed and swore loudly as she fell too, but she was able to grab back onto the ledge. She hoisted herself up and finished climbing the wall.

She turned around and jumped onto the ledge that led to a tunnel.

Up ahead of her, she could see a man walking slowly in the distance.

“Shit, there he is!”

Dinah clutched the gun close to her and took off running after him. Once she got close enough, she aimed her rifle at the man in front of her. It was only then that she realized that she never shot a gun before. She huffed and attempted to fire a bullet into his back. The rifle turned out to be jammed.

“What?” Dinah spat in disbelief. “Piece of shit! Come on, come on!”

Dinah threw the gun away. The man in front of her climbed through a hole and a gate started to close behind him.

She frowned and ran towards the gate. “Christ, gotta make it!”

She slid under the gate just in time. Dinah sighed in relief. Just her luck too. There was a lantern resting against the wall near the gate. She picked it up and lit it with her lighter. Dinah ran to the end of the tunnel. The cold wind that howled outside never sound so welcoming to Dinah.

“Oh, fuck,” Dinah mumbled. She looked off into the distance. Ahead of her was a gigantic building. It was almost big enough to be a small university. Dinah squinted and saw the strange man from before walk up to it.

“Jesus. The fuck is this place?”

**00:41**

Camila woke up with a groan. Her head hurt like hell. Her body felt numb. There was definitely a bruise on her forehead. “What the fu…”

It all came back to her. There was a man attacking them. He threatened Vero and Lucy. He was definitely a criminal. He took Ariana and Ashley and knocked Camila out.

Camila grabbed a flashlight and stood up. “Oh no. Ariana!” She turned the flashlight on and looked around the room. She was in the kitchen. Camila sucked her breath in and started walking around the lodge.

Her foot brushed up against something soft. She bent down. Ariana’s pink coin purse laid there discarded. “Oh, that’s not good. That’s not good at all.”

She opened the door into the main foyer. A crow cawed and flew off into the direction of an open window. “What the fuck?”

She flashed the light onto a wall. There was a bloodstain shown. Camila didn’t even want to know whose blood that was. “Aww, shit.”

Camila decided that Ariana wasn’t in the lodge. She didn’t want to go upstairs and bother Lauren in the bath anyways. She seemed pretty adamant on having a nice bath. Camila would hate to ruin her fun.

She pushed open the door to the outdoors and stepped out. “Ari… Ariana!? Where are you?”

Camila picked up her pace and shined her flashlight around the area. There was no sign of a tiny Italian girl there. She walked down the path and continued to call out the girl’s name.

She reached the Frangipane shed and stopped. There was no way Ariana could be there. Hell, Camila didn’t even go in that shed alone. When Ashley and her used to come up during the summer, they’d play around in there and Camila could have sworn she saw a dead body.

Right outside of the shed was a totem though. The totem had a turtle carved into it with brown accents. She turned it over.

Camila whimpered at the image that was depicted. Ariana was decapitated by some unknown creature and her head fell off and rolled on the floor. She dropped the totem and ran her hands through her hair frustratedly.

“Oh, God, where are you, Ariana?”

She turned and made her way to the left of the shack.

A figure in a clown mask jumped out at her and screamed. Camila jumped in shock. “Woah! What in the hell?” She tapped its shoulder, realizing that it was fake. “Who would do that?”

A little further down the path, Camila saw a pig’s head. She wanted to vomit at the sight. Whoever would do that was sick and twisted. The poor piggie.

“Oh shit, I can’t believe someone would kill you,” Camila commented.

Right next to the pig’s head was another totem. This one was black and a man with big sharp teeth was carved into it. She didn’t have much to lose, so she turned it over.

An image flashed before her showing herself getting hung up by a screeching creature.

Camila shuddered and stood back up. She figured that she should check the shed. Otherwise, she’d have to walk around in circles for a long time. Frangipane Lodge grounds were huge.

She pulled open the door to the shed. Immediately she was overwhelmed by the dark, eerie setting. Ariana’s quiet cries could be heard.

A dangling cage fell near her.

“Ahhh! God fucking damn!”

“Camila?”

“Ariana!” Camila sighed in relief. “I’m here, hold on!”

Ariana whimpered. “Please, get me out of here!”

“I’m coming, okay! Keep talking to me, what happened?” Camila slowly made her way to the source of Ariana’s voice.

“Oh Camila, he tied me up! I can’t move.”

“Ariana, I’m coming to get you,” Camila reassured her as she used her flashlight to look around. “I’m almost there.”

“I’m really scared, Camila,” Ariana cried. “You have to get me out of here before he comes back!”

Just then, a light turned on revealing Ariana and Ashley tied up against a wooden board and in chains. Ariana looked absolutely frightened while Ashley was still knocked out.

Ariana shook her chains furiously. “Oh no, Camila? Are you there?”

 _“Hello,_ ” a deep voice said from above, _“and thank you for joining me.”_ Ariana screamed loudly and Camila winced.

The petite girl turned to look over at a sleeping Ashley Frangipane. “Ashley! Oh my God! Ashley, wake up!”

Ashley snorted and opened her eyes abruptly. “Huh? What is this?”

Camila’s breathing picked up. She attempted to shake the door down of the cage that her two friends that were in there.

_“Tonight we’re going to be conducting an experiment. A sort of test.”_

Ashley’s eyes widened in confusion. She turned to look at the girl next to her. “Ariana, what the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! I don’t know!”

_“Now for this experiment, we’re going to need the cooperation of our two test subjects… Ashley and Ariana…”_

The blue-haired girl’s breath hitched. “Holy shit. Oh my God.”

_“But we’re going to need more than one brave participant to help decide… which subject will live, and which will die.”_

Camila couldn’t hide the shock. It was like a horror chord had just struck. Her mouth floundered. Ariana screamed and started shaking her chains wildly. It was difficult, though, as Ariana and Ashley’s hands were both tied above their heads.

“Oh no, oh no… Oh, God! Camila, get us out of here!” Ariana pleaded.

Ashley started kicking and flailing too, now wide awake. “No! You can’t do this! Let me down from here, you fucking maniac!”

Ariana wailed wordlessly.

_“Please. Please, please, everyone calm down. It’s all very simple. Karla, you will find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do… is choose who you will save!”_

“This isn’t right! You can’t do this.” Ariana thrashed again, attempting to break away from her chains.

“Hey, Camila… Come on… Think about this,” Ashley whimpered. “I’m your _best_ friend.”

“Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.” Camila started pacing and brought her hands up to her forehead. She couldn’t think under pressure. It only spurred on her anxiety.

“Camila! You can’t just let me die,” Ariana sputtered.

Camila winced and rubbed her head frustratedly. “Guys, you gotta give me a minute… I gotta think straight.”

Ashley pulled on her chains and shifted furiously. “C’mon. What’s it going to be?”

Camila _really_ had to think about her options. With a giant ass saw in between them were two girls that she considered to be the most important people in her life.

First being Ashley, her best friend. Ashley had her back through everything. Ashley was like her guardian angel. She got suspended for pouring hot sauce into Austin Mahone’s underwear in the seventh grade after he called her weak and puny. She was the first person that Camila came out to when she realized she was gay. Ashley also broadened her friend group. Camila used to have only Ashley as a friend throughout grade school. But in high school, she introduced her to Lauren, Vero, and Lucy. Camila was beyond grateful for befriending those three girls. She even helped Lauren with asking Lucy out. Camila then met Dinah and Normani through Lauren.

And then there was Ariana, the girl she made a fool out of herself in front of in the cafeteria during sophomore year by tripping over Dinah’s foot. Ariana was so sweet, caring, and kind. Camila was ninety percent sure she found her soulmate that day. Ariana introduced Camila and her friend group to Ally and Zendaya. From there, it was history. Camila and Ariana grew very close and her feelings for her over the years blossomed to what they were currently. Camila couldn’t live without knowing if Ariana and her had a chance or not.

The decision seemed clear to her.

“Ariana, I’ll get you out of this! I won’t let you die!”

Ariana let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank you! Thank you, thank you!

Ashley screamed and sobbed. “No, Camila! Please, no!”

The saw suddenly started spinning wildly. Anything it touched would be cut in half easily.

“Listen, Camila…” Ashley shook violently. “We’ve been through so much. You’re my sister from another mister. I didn’t want to go out like this.”

Camila bit her lip. Poor Ashley. She sounded so scared and fragile. Camila felt extremely guilty for putting her through his.

“I know we haven’t been the best of friends lately. I’ve been kind of screwed up and everything, too… I’m getting better, I swear!” Ashley insisted. Ariana must have found Ashley’s words to be a threat to her survival, so she started screaming and crying again.

Camila shook her head. “I’m so sorry… Ash, I don’t know how to handle this, please!”

“I know you, Camila. You’d rather save Ariana than my messed-up ass.”

A tear fell down Camila’s cheek at Ashley’s statement. “No, that’s not it at all! I’m so torn right now-”

“Save Ariana,” she demanded. “As your best friend, I should respect your wishes and love life. Just like, make sure to honor me at the wedding? I did call maid of honor…”

Camila couldn’t help it. She broke out into a loud sob and placed her hand on the lever. Tears were blurring her vision. “Oh, God… Ashley.” Ariana’s crying was causing her so much heartache. “Ariana…”

If she remembered things from the movies, the actual death traps were fake. They had to be. Psychopaths only wanted to scare people, not actually kill them.

Camila removed her hand from the lever. “No! You know what? Fuck you, psycho! I refuse to choose between the two most important people in my life. In fact, you can kill me instead. I refuse to play your stupid game!”

As if on cue, the tracks of the saw turned towards Ashley.

“Ahh! No, what the fuck!?” Ashley screamed.

_“Ah… I see. You have chosen to save Ariana.”_

Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. No. No. No. No. No,” she repeated shakily.

“Oh, God! Ashley!” Ariana whirled to look over at Ashley and cried even harder.

The saw started making its way down the track.

“I thought we were friends, Mila! I thought we were friends. _Why_ would you do this?”

“I’m sorry! I’m _so_ sorry. This is madness, please!” Camila ran a hand through her hair stressfully.

The saw was edging ever closer to the blue-haired girl.

“God, what did I do to deserve this?” Ashley was crying now. Camila had never seen her cry before, not even when Vero and Lucy disappeared. “What did I do to you, Camila?”

The saw turned on the track and reached Ashley. Slowly but surely, it began to cut her open. Its jagged teeth bore into Ashley’s torso. Blood started to splatter in thousands of different directions.

“Camila! Nooo! Get me out of here!” she cried in agony.

Camila couldn’t even pull her eyes away from it. She was willingly watching her best friend be mutilated. “I’m so… sorry. Ashley, please forgive me!”

The saw continued to plow through Ashley. Camila briefly looked over at Ariana. The poor girl, the entire left side if her clothing was completely ruined by Ashley’s blood splattered against her. Ashley’s screams seemed to falter before they completely stopped. The saw finished cutting through her. Camila choked on her tears as the lower half of a previously united Ashley Frangipane fell to the floor.

“Don’t look, Ariana, don’t look,” Camila gasped.

“Why shouldn’t I look, Camila? Please tell me she’s okay!”

The door swung open to the room where Ashley and Ariana were. Camila wasted no time in bursting through and going to help Ariana. “I’m coming, Ari.” Ariana full-on started sobbing. She buried her head into the crook of Camila’s neck. “Shh, shh, it’s okay. I’m going to get you down. We’re going to get out of here. Please don’t cry.”

Even with Ariana sobbing into her, Camila was able to untie Ariana from her chains. Ariana lifted her head from Camila’s shoulder and looked over to her left. She quickly wrapped her arms around Ariana and prevented her from falling over.

Camila glanced over to where Ariana was looking. She was pointing at the upper half of Ashley’s body. She shuddered at the sight. Ashley was slumped over. Camila didn’t even want to see the look of horror that was probably plastered on her best friend’s face.

She covered Ariana’s eyes and escorted her out of the shed.

“I can’t believe… I can’t believe she’s dead. This is so terrible,” Ariana sobbed.

Camila nodded grimly. “I know, Ari. I-I know.”

Just ahead of them was Zendaya and Normani, arguing amongst themselves. Ariana let out a sigh of relief as she clung onto Camila tighter. Camila called their names out.

Zendaya turned around. Her warm smile turned to a look of horror. “Camila! Ariana!”

“Blood. Blood!?” Normani gasped as she pointed to Ariana’s chest. “Whose blood is that?”

Ariana bawled and buried her face back into the crook of Camila’s neck.

“What’s going on?” Zendaya probed. “Are you guys okay?”

Normani turned to look at Camila. “Camila, what happened?”

Camila couldn’t even form a coherent sentence. All she could do was sputter and wheeze. “A-Ashley-” she managed to finally say clearly.

“Ashley what, man?” Zendaya frowned.

“She’s… She’s dead.”

“Wait, what?”

Camila sobbed. “Right in front of us, man!”

Normani’s previous bitchy expression changed to one of concern. “What are you talking about?”

“There’s- T-There’s a maniac! A psycho!”

“Oh my God,” Normani gasped. “We gotta get out of here.”

Zendaya didn’t look like she believed Camila. “How do I not know you’re lying? I mean, I saw a pig’s head just down the mountain! You could be pulling our leg,” she accused.

Camila shook her head violently, holding Ariana closer to her. “I’m not! There’s a maniac. He was… in the shed. There was a saw. And it was either her or Ari, and I didn’t know what to do!” She made a hand motion that resembled a saw cutting through something. “Cut right through her. Her blood was spilling out _everywhere_ .” She brought her hand up to wipe her tears. “It was _my_ fault. I killed her!”

“What!? Oh my God, Camila! What are you talking about?” Normani demanded frantically.

“It was _my_ fault,” she repeated shakily.

Normani crossed her arms over her chest. “No,” she spat. “This is insane! We gotta go get some help.”

“Cut right in half…” Camila trailed off.

Zendaya took a few steps closer and patted Camila’s shoulder comfortingly. “Hey, we’re gonna figure this out.”

“Zendaya, we need to get help right now,” Normani insisted.

Zendaya nodded, to Camila’s horror. She thought Zendaya would have at least a little shred of humanity back in her. “Mila, she’s right. Who knows who’ll be next? We just gotta go.”

“No,” Camila grumbled. “You only care about yourself! We have to go get the others!”

Normani laughed mirthlessly and rolled her eyes. “Dinah and Ally are off 69’ing each other and who knows where Lauren is-”

“Lauren’s in the lodge taking a bath,” Camila answered.

“Oh, let me rephrase that,” she quipped. “Lauren’s in the lodge and finally glad she’s all alone so she can shove a rubber ducky up her fat ass.”

Camila narrowed her eyes. “Jesus Christ! You’re heartless, Normani.”

“No, I just don’t want to make hasty decisions that get everyone killed. You can get everyone else together… and I’ll go get help. With Z, right?”

Zendaya shrugged. “Uh, yeah, sure.”

Camila nodded her head and gave Normani a sad smile as she started making her way to the lodge with Ariana. Normani and Zendaya headed in the opposite directions.


	6. Chapter Five: Dread

**SIX HOURS UNTIL DAWN**

**01:03**

Dinah was cold. Her body was not made to withstand freezing Canadian winter weather with just a tank top and jeans. She didn’t know how long she had been following this creepy guy, but it felt like forever.

The man stopped and turned around.

Dinah pushed herself behind the wall. “Jesus,” she breathed out. She peeked out from behind the wall when she heard feet crunching in the snow. “That’s not good.That’s really not good. That’s not good at all.”

The man made his way to the front of the creepy building. Behind him were two long figures. They looked like dogs. She frowned. Wait, those weren’t dogs. If this man wasn’t already a freak, he definitely was now.

A dark figure popped up from the snow. Dinah cursed quietly and hid back behind the wall. It was a wolf. A dark gray northwestern wolf, to be exact.

Dinah peeked out once again. The strange man was walking into the giant building. She determined that the two figures were wolves. One was light, while the other was gray.

“Alright. Let’s get a closer look.”

She grunted and climbed over the wall and jumped down. She wrapped her arms around herself to protect her from the cold. It wasn’t working though. Hopefully she could find some sort of clothing soon. As she walked, she heard howling behind her. Dinah had to laugh. Of course she was trapped in the middle of nowhere with a fucking full moon. She was destined to get mauled by a werewolf now.

She made her way to the main grounds. A large sign that read “CONDEMNED” was plastered on the side of the building. “Awesome. Why wouldn’t I end up in the creepiest place on planet earth?” Dinah scratched her head. “Come to think of it, why does Ashley’s family own a mountain with this freaking thing.” Ashley _was_ a certified freak. She supposed the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.

Near the gate she noticed a totem leaning up against it. Dinah sent one last glance towards the door and then knelt down, swiping up the bat totem with white accents. She prayed it would show her something good.

She saw Zendaya backing away from a banging door in the mines.

“Wow, o great, wise Native Americans. Couldn’t you show me something useful?” Dinah complained.

Dinah scaled the wall of the giant building and noticed some light poking out from some covering. She knelt down and uncovered it. There was a small passage that led to the interior of the building.

“Here goes nothing.”

She climbed into the small passage into the building and covered the passage up. She shuddered and looked around. She had to be in the basement or something. The ceiling was low and there wasn’t anything very interesting to look at.

Down the hallway was a crack in the ceiling that she could easily climb through if she had a boost. A barrel. Dinah started pushing the barrel towards the crack in the wall. Her eyes widened when she noticed another totem. She was well aware that she was getting desperate at this point. Dinah grabbed the totem and ran her thumb across the carved frog with brown accents.

She flipped it over. Dinah gasped in horror. Zendaya was shown getting her head bashed in by some bony hands, similar to the ones that grabbed Ally.

There was definitely some sort of weirdo trying to kill the gang. Dinah discarded the totem and focused on trying to get up the barrel.

She climbed up on top of it and then peeped through the crack of it. “Woah, that’s different,” Dinah noted. She swung her left leg up to the floor above her and then hoisted herself up.

Dinah held the lantern up to look around. The current room she was in was filled with debris. The windows were shattered, tables were cracked, chairs were smashed, and so many other things that were definitely wrong with that room. She pushed open the creaky doors of the current room to go into the next one. It was notably more drafty in that room. Dinah crept up to the hole in the wall and looked through.

The room that she saw through the wall was the Chapel. The cross that was hung on the wall was crooked and looked ready to fall off. Dinah held her breath as her gaze fixed on the man that she followed in. He knelt down and began feeding the wolves.

“What the…” Dinah muttered.

When she tried to get a better look by sticking her face closer, the wolves left. Dinah moved to the end of the hallway and attempted to open the door. Locked, of course it was. Nothing could ever be so simple and _unlocked_.

Dinah doubled back into the room that she climbed up in. She heard papers rustle in the wind. She raised a brow curiously and made her way towards the source of the sound. There was some sort of typed paper there. She picked it up and took a look.

_MEMORANDUM_

_4th January 1952_

_To: Sanatorium Staff_

_From: Mr. Kurstin_

_RE: Rescue of Miners_

 

_Be advised that the miner rescue is due to be completed tomorrow (5th January). As the number of surviving miners is unknown, prepare all beds in Ward A._

_The press shall be in attendance tomorrow. We must be seen to be giving the miners the best possible care._

_Note that the press visitors are not to be allowed into the Psychiatric Ward._

_Failure in this regard will reflect badly upon Mr. Martin and the Sanatorium as a whole, and shall result in an on-the-spot dismissal._

 

_Kurstin_

 

“Jesus, they were forcing people out of here?” Dinah asked no one as she put the note down. “This whole hospital or Sanatorium place is fucking creepy. I’m getting hella _American Horror Story: Asylum_ vibes.”

Dinah concluded that while she was there looking for the creep that was in the mines, she might as well find out more information about the miners that were rescued in 1952.

She walked into the administration area. The room looked just as broken as the other room. Desks were broken and covered in clutter. She saw a broken camera sitting off to the side. It looked like someone had forcefully broken the camera as the lenses were smashed.

She wandered into an office adjacent to the administration area and looked around. On the desk were another pile of papers.

Dinah held the light over the papers and took a look at them. Apparently the twelve miners that were rescued looked well-fed, cogent, and surprisingly rather healthy. There were a few men that had inhibited respiratory problems and symptoms of pneumonia. A worrying feature was that some men had reintegration issues. All of them were secluded in a private ward away from the other patients and were put under 24-hour supervision.

She turned over the letter and swore loudly. Someone scrawled on the back a worrying note.

_“One of those guys actually tried to bite me! I’m going to report it to Dr. Bowie.”_

Dinah set the paper down and shrugged. “I bet they all freaked out and got ‘raised by wolves’ in a matter of twenty-three days.”

Pushed up against the wall was a safe with a large dent in it. Someone else had tried to break in and were pretty damn determined to. Dinah picked up a stake near the safe and used it to pry it open. Inside were thirty cards. She squinted and picked up the cards and flipped through them. There were thirty of them. Thirty clock-in cards for miners that tried to work in the northwest section in the mines.

That was odd. Only twelve were confirmed to be survivors. What the hell happened to the other eighteen?

Dinah left the administration area with more questions on her mind on before.

She walked back into the same hallway as before. On the wall near the signs was an old newspaper. Dinah pursed her lips at the headline “REPORTER ASSAULTED ON BLACKWOOD MOUNTAIN”. Poor guy named Sam Smith was attacked by security for sneaking in and his camera got broken.

“Intrigue on Blackwood Mountain,” Dinah commented dryly.

She made her way in the direction of the morgue, but to her left she saw a partially open room. A bird cawed loudly and flew away. Dinah noticed a machete sticking out of the middle of the wooden table in the room. She pushed open the door, stepped towards the table, and grabbed the machete.

Dinah smirked and swung it around. “Alright. I can get with this.”

She walked to the foreground and into another room. A green curtain rustled from the draft. Dinah abruptly pulled the curtain open and gasped in horror. Behind that curtain was a bloodied restraining chair. “Holy shit… What happened here?” Dinah shuddered and took a step back. “Bet those twisted fuckers held their patients down and watched them suffer.”

As she left the room, she noticed a big wolf’s shadow, cast on the opposite wall. Dinah sucked her breath in and clutched her machete close to her like a teddy bear.

When the shadow disappeared, Dinah made her way to the room opposite of her. A telegram about the miners was nailed to the wall. She licked her lips nervously and took a closer look. The staff at the Sanatorium were really adamant about keeping the press out. There was definitely something about those miners that they really didn’t want the public to know. “Who wouldn’t want the press snooping around in this paradise?” She commented sarcastically, spinning on her heels and leaving the room.

Dinah continued to wander through the Sanatorium aimlessly. She even came across a live hand wiggling around with a note in it. But that hand looked totally disgusting, Dinah refused to touch anything that may give her some sort of disease or the fucking cooties.

She entered the morgue. To her right were a few shelves with some glass boxes. One of them had a strange skull. Dinah held up the lantern to take a look at it. The skull looked inhumane, like a creepy beast with weird eyes. “This place just gets better and better,” she remarked with a huff. She raised a brow and lightly tapped the glass of the box. “Wassup, chatterbox? Hanging out? Me too. My girlfriend just got murdered. I’m sure you can relate.”

There was a door at the end of the hallway. Dinah figured that it led to the chapel. Excellent, now she could go in and beat the shit out of that dude for being a creep. There was a sign right below the door that said “Chapel Security Pass Required”.

“Are you serious!?” Dinah spat in disbelief. “Now I gotta find a fucking key card? What the fucking fuck? This building was founded in like the early 20th century, how did they get the technology to even _have_ key cards?” Her face lit up as an idea popped into her head. “Aliens. Those miners were actually aliens and they stole all the futuristic technology. _Sick._ ”

Three body drawers were located to Dinah’s left. She figured she could check in there for a keycard.

The first drawer contained a name tag of a man named Tom Bowie. His death date was February 24th, 1952. His cause of death was because of an inmate attacking him. Her eyebrows furrowed. Bowie wasn’t the last name of the doctor that made the medical reports from before. That was odd.

The second drawer contained a death certificate for a nurse named Bea Miller. She also died on February 24th, 1952. The cause of death was ruled to be a homicide. The manner of injury was thought to be a sharp object, possibly fingernails. Bea had severe lacerations to the abdomen and serious blood loss. And the weirdest thing, in Dinah’s opinion, was the fact that parts of her intestines and kidneys were eaten by the attacker.

The last drawer contained an uncovered corpse. A corpse that smelled completely vile.

“Oh, God, that’s fucking sick. Now _I’m_ gonna be fucking sick,” Dinah gagged.

A rat crawled out of the dead body’s mouth to prove her point. Dinah clutched her stomach and turned away to vomit. There went her brief dinner at a truck stop on the way to Blackwood Pines.

On the bright side, there was a keycard sticking out from the corpse’s jacket pocket. Dinah held her breath and grabbed the key card.

Then, Dinah ran the fuck away from that body. She used her newly acquired key card to open the door. “Okay. Let’s check this out.”

Dinah walked into the chapel and started making her way up the stairs. She froze when she heard loud barking. She whipped her head around to find a white wolf behind her and growling menacingly. Dinah swore loudly and bolted towards the nearest way out. “Oh fu- oh fuck. Shit, shit, shit. Okay, you got this, Hansen. You’re a bad bitch,” she muttered under her breath. She reached the end of the hallway and found a door. Dinah hastily threw it open and slammed the Chapel’s door in the wolf’s face.

“Shit, that was close,” Dinah gasped. She turned to look back out the door’s window to the chapel. “What a quaint little psycho-crib.”

Dinah sighed and jumped down the main floor. She then rolled her eyes when she realized she was right back at the beginning. Perhaps if she attempted to go back into the chapel, the wolf would be gone.

She was wrong.

When she attempted to open the chapel’s door a few minutes later, the wolf jumped out in front of her and barked loudly.

Dinah froze. She didn’t know what to do. Kicking the wolf seemed cruel. He was probably just protecting the place. If Dinah didn’t cause any direct harm to him, he could probably be a useful ally.

“Okay, easy, boy… I’m not gonna hurt you,” she said slowly.

Dinah took a step closer to him. The wolf growled aggressively. She wasn’t an expert on canine creature. But she was pretty sure that if she approached him slowly, he wouldn’t freak out.

She approached the wolf slowly. “That’s a good boy. Easy…” she assured the wolf.

Dinah brought her hand out to pat the wolf’s head softly. To her delight, he didn’t react negatively. “Yeah? Good boy!” Dinah continued to pet the wolf and stroke the fur behind his ears. “Everyone likes a little loving, right? Maybe that’s what you needed. There’s enough Dinah Jane love for everyone to have.” The wolf yipped and then sat down.

She sighed in relief and decided to explore the chapel since the wolf was no longer hostile. Dinah found a chest near her and decided to take a look. Inside were a few bones. An idea popped into her head.

“Maybe this’ll keep the wolves fat and happy.” She approached the wolf once again and offered the bone. “Hey, boy… I got you a treat.” The wolf eagerly took the bone from Dinah’s hand. Dinah smiled broadly. “That’s a good boy.” She patted his head once more and went back to her adventuring.

She found a cigar box next. She remembered finding a cigar stub a while back in the mines with Ally. “Ah. The stogie stash has been exposed,” she noted. “Now we know this creep really gets around.”

There were three rooms in front of her. Two of them had gates locking them and were dark. The one in the middle was brightly lit and unlocked. Dinah decided to explore that room. On the wall was a map of the mountains and a bunch of newspaper clippings. She recognized the miner disappearance and rescue ones and the ones that related to the disappearance of Vero and Lucy. There were also a few other newspapers that related to other disappearances of people on the mountains. Blackwood Mountain really was a recipe for disaster. “Fucking freak…”

On a coat hanger to the right, she noticed a green army jacket hanging. Dinah grinned and grabbed it. She put it on and sighed contently. “Finally, I can warm up a bit.”

There was a gun on top of the filing cabinet near her. This was the only time that Dinah wished she was taller because she was not tall enough to reach up and grab the gun. “Come on…” Dinah kicked the cabinet a few times until the revolver fell to the ground. “Nice!” She picked the gun up and made her way to the exit. She literally had no point in staying there any longer.

Dinah shot the lock of the exit of the chapel and left. She found herself at the top of a staircase that led down to the basement that she came in. On the wall was a framed picture of twelve miners. Dinah squinted to try and see what it read.

**_*THE MIRACLE MEN*_ **

_“The successful rescue of all 12 miners trapped in the disaster of 5th January 1952.”_

“‘The Miracle Men’...?” Dinah read out in confusion. To her left she found another totem. Dinah bent down and picked it up. This one looked like a demon deer with black accents. She shrugged and turned it over.

She saw herself lighting up a lighter and triggering an explosion. Dinah bit her lip as she watched herself be burnt to a crisp.

“Jesus… fuck.” She tossed the totem and descended down the stairs.

Dinah reached the underground floor and shuffled towards the gate at the end. She shook it violently as she tried to open it. “Locked, of course.” She pushed a nearby barrel out of the way. Dinah aimed the revolver and shot the lock. It sparked and caused a small flame to show.

She opened the gate, only then realizing that there was flammable liquid near it. “Shit, shit!” Dinah ran to take cover, but tripped and fell to the ground as an explosion… exploded behind her. She brought her hands to her ears and covered them as she braced for impact. That definitely wasn’t Dinah’s smartest decision that evening, but she had a bad feeling she was about to make even crazier ones.

**1:05**

Ashley was dead. Zendaya found that so hard to believe. It felt like seconds ago Ashley was teasing her and calling her whipped because of how _willingly_ she dealt with Normani’s bitchiness. It didn’t feel right. Ashley couldn’t go that easily.

Normani and Zendaya descended down the path to the cable car station.

“I can’t believe Ashley is gone,” Normani said quietly.

“I can’t believe how she died,” Zendaya agreed solemnly.

Normani shook her head. “No, I mean… what if Camila was wrong?” Zendaya didn’t even bother to hide her confusion. She decided to let her very smart girlfriend explain what she was thinking. “Maybe we should’ve checked the shed to see if it’s really true.”

“Listen, I don’t think Camila would ever like lie about someone dying.” She offered her own two cents. Normani seemed willing to listen as she was looking over at her intently. “There are some things that once you see them, you can’t unsee them.” Zendaya shrugged. “Camila’s a jokester, but I don’t think she _or_ Ashley would dare fake their deaths for humor. That’s taking things too far.”

“Some things you have to see for yourself,” she said. “I’m still skeptical.”

Zendaya sighed. Normani really was stubborn as hell. “I’m still taking their word for it.”

They walked down the mountain in tense silence. She didn’t know what Normani was thinking, but Zendaya sure felt confused. She wanted to know why a maniac would even think about attacking a bunch of young adults hanging out. That only happened in horror movies, and the last time Zendaya checked, they were in real life.

Zendaya saw red snow and froze suddenly. Her first thought was that it was blood, but then her features softened when she noticed a bucket of red paint that had spilled out. “Paint? It’s still fresh.”

“The psycho must be near,” Normani concluded with a shudder.

On their way to the station, Zendaya noticed a wooden object sticking out in the snow. She knelt down and picked it up. It was a totem that had a black demonic gopher carved in. She frowned and turned it over.

An image flashed before her showing herself falling down a cliff to her demise. Zendaya cursed quietly and dropped it.

“What was that?” Normani asked, noticing Zendaya’s freaked out behavior.

Zendaya bit her lip and stood back. “Ah… nothing. Let’s just go.” Her girlfriend shrugged her shoulders and walked away.

Normani and Zendaya finally reached the cable car station. Zendaya noticed something odd. There was an axe lodged into the door of the station. She was pretty sure it wasn’t there before. “Look, an axe… I feel better with an axe.” Zendaya pried the axe off of the door with some effort.

Normani attempted to open the door. “Oh, what now? Hey, Zendaya! This is locked. Break down the door, will ya?”

Zendaya frowned deeply. “I’m not going to start smashing shit. The psycho could be here,” she protested.

“You can any better suggestions?”

She pursed her lips. “Uh, what about…” Her gaze moved to the window of the cable car station. Normani could easily fit through. She was short and Zendaya was sure she wouldn’t get caught in the gap. “The window?”

“That’s great, Zendaya!” Normani cheered fakely and clapped her hands together. “I can just about fit my lip balm through that little slot.”

“No, come on,” Zendaya insisted.

Normani rolled her eyes. “You will never fit through there. Hell, I won’t even fit through there!”

Zendaya sighed agitatedly. “You know what? Okay, fine!” Arguing with Normani at this point was going to be an unfair battle. They didn’t call Normani the “Queen of Insults” for no reason. “Alright. I’m gonna huff, and I’m gonna puff-”

“What are you, ten!? Shut the fuck up and do it.”

Zendaya took a few steps back. She ran into the door once. She ran into the door twice. On the third attempt, she finally forced the door open. Zendaya didn’t stop herself in time and ended up tripping and collapsing on the floor.

Normani turned on the lights. “What the hell happened in here?”

Zendaya groaned and got back up on her feet. The cable car station was totally _trashed_. Papers were cluttered everywhere. Half of the file cabinets were knocked over. The word “DIE” was painted multiple times all over the walls of the station. “Shit. Psycho went… psycho.”

“We were just here a few hours ago. This must have just happened!” Normani started pacing and shaking her head. “It’s gotta be the guy that got Camila, Ari, and… Ashley.”

“He’s gotta know that this is the only way out.”

Normani glared at her. “Don’t say that.”

Zendaya huffed. She turned around to look at where the cable car should have been. It was instead only a few feet away, just far enough so neither Zendaya or Normani could jump out onto it. That was a big “fuck you” from the psycho.

“The cable car doesn’t look too far. You can jump it, right?” Normani inquired.

“Ha. I’m good. But not _that_ good, Mani,” Zendaya replied. “I’m flattered though.”

“If you can’t jump that, then what the hell are we supposed to do!?”

“I don’t know,” Zendaya admitted. “Let’s just solve one problem at a time.”

Normani laughed and narrowed her eyes. “Um, hello? Our main problem is that the cable car is all the way out there.” She pointed at the cable car. “And apparently you’re no Olympic jumper.”

Zendaya glanced up at a map of the mountain on the wall. “Hey, look! Fire tower,” she said excitedly as she pointed to its location on the map. Her gaze moved to the dot that said “Blackwood Sanatorium”. She tilted her head. “And a… mental hospital?”

“Well, that isn’t creepy at all,” Normani said sarcastically. She walked over to the multitude of painted “DIE”s on the wall. “Ugh. Unfollow!”

Zendaya walked over to the cable car controls. She ran her hand over the many buttons and controls. She sighed when she noticed that the most important thing was missing, the cable car keys. “Great! No keys, no cable car. Guess we’re back to square one.”

Normani came up behind her and placed her hand on Zendaya’s shoulder. “What about that fire tower you mentioned? Maybe it has a radio or something. It has to, right?”

“Yeah, I mean. What would a fire tower be without a radio?”

Normani turned Zendaya to face her. She raised a brow at her girlfriend. She looked so determined and serious. It was honestly kind of hot. “Z, we gotta get to that radio.”

Zendaya knew that Normani was right. It could be their only chance to get off the mountain. The rangers had to be still awake by now. Zendaya nodded eagerly. “Yeah, we can use it to call for help.”

Normani smirked and brought her hand up to cup Zendaya’s cheek. “Well, somebody’s learning to play by the rules.”

Zendaya furrowed her brows. “What are you saying? What rules?”

Normani placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. “Rule number one, ‘Normani is always right.’ Rule number two, ‘Nothing else matters because Normani is always right.’”

Zendaya groaned and broke away from her girlfriend. “Uh huh.” Normani looked straight-up pissed. She sent Zendaya a glare and stormed out of the cable car station. Zendaya scratched her head and sighed. _Gosh, Normani, can’t you just stop being a bitch for once in your life?_ Zendaya thought.

“Aha!” Normani called from outside. “Z, come look at this!”

Zendaya’s eyebrow arched as she left the cable car station to see Normani reaching up and attempting to pull down a ladder, but she was too short.

“What’s cookin’, good lookin’?”

Normani grunted as she continued to attempt to pull the ladder down. “I’m…” she wheezed, “trying to get us out of here.” Zendaya walked over to Normani and lifted her up so her shorter girlfriend could pull the ladder down. Normani squealed excitedly as she successfully pulled the ladder down with Zendaya’s help. “And just like magic, Miss Normani Hamilton brings down the ladder. We can totally get out of here this way!” Zendaya set Normani down and waited for Normani to go first before climbing up the ladder to the top of the station.

Zendaya felt like she was going to die. Shimmying across a narrow, icy ledge above a mountain sounded like an impossible task. Just as she reached the top, Normani slipped and fell.

She was quick to react and grabbed Normani’s hand just before she fell to her possible demise. “You alright?” Zendaya asked breathlessly.

Normani nodded and shivered. “Yeah… Maybe you should go first next time. So you can protect me.”

The two of them switched places. They shimmied across the ledge of the station. Zendaya felt like she was going to slip at any second. Normani seemed to feel the same way because she was gripping onto Zendaya’s hand for dear life.

“I’m feeling kind of faint…” Normani said woozily.

“Just don’t look down,” Zendaya told her.

After what felt like forever, they reached the other side of the station.

Normani sighed in relief. “Holy cannoli, thank God that’s over.”

They descended the stairs down to the snowy mountain. “What if the radio doesn’t work?” Normani crossed her arms over her chest. “This place is, like, crazy outdated.”

“It’ll work,” she replied.

“And if it doesn’t?” Her girlfriend raised a brow. “We need a backup plan.”

Zendaya nodded. “Um, okay…” she trailed off. “Maybe we can just climb down the mountain?”

“Seriously!?” Normani gestured to the mountainside. “It’s pitch black out! The mountain could literally be floating in the sky for all we know.”

“Hopefully we don’t have to,” Zendaya assured her.

“You think the psychopath is just going to give up and run away?” she retorted.

Zendaya shook her head and shrugged. “No, but maybe we should find a safe spot. Hole up, wait it out. It’ll be a lot easier to figure this out in the morning.”

“As long as we don’t hide in the lodge, because I think that’s where the psycho expects us to go.”

Zendaya huffed and walked towards another totem that was sticking out from the ground. She knelt down and picked it up. This one looked like a ram with yellow accents. She turned it over.

This picture in her mind showed Normani handing Zendaya a flare gun.

She shrugged and put it back down.

Zendaya and Normani continued down the path. They reached a wooden bridge that crossed over a frozen river. Zendaya heard a creaking sound. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked down. One of the floorboards were loose. “Huh?” She bent over and opened the floorboard. There was a frozen iPhone. Zendaya recognized the small business card holder on the case that held a picture of Lauren and Lucy. “No way, it’s…”

“Lucy’s phone,” Normani finished for her.

“I thought the police swept this place clean.”

“I guess they missed this area,” Normani replied.

Zendaya stood back up and walked across the bridge. To their right was the end of a huge drop-off. The “DANGER: CLIFF” sign was falling off the post. Zendaya saw yet another totem sticking out of the ground. She bent over and picked it up. This one had a raven carved into it with white accents.

The image that flashed before her showed Ariana opening a door for Camila.

Normani’s loud footsteps startled Zendaya. She was standing way too close to the edge of the cliff. “Woah,” Zendaya warned. “Watch where you step.”

“Yes, Zendaya, given the choice I’d prefer not to spend my evening plummeting to my death off of a snowy cliff-top,” Normani shot back.

Zendaya opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when a loud piercing scream was heard.

“What was that?” Normani looked around frantically.

Zendaya swallowed nervously. “I don’t know.” She looked towards the woods. A huge horde of deer began circling around them. Normani and her were trapped.

“Shit,” she cursed. “Mani, stay behind me.”

Normani whimpered, “I don’t wanna die.”

**01:11**

It was so easy for Lauren to lose track of time. Baths were her favorite thing in the entire world after music. Combining two of her favorite things was a must. Lauren leaned back against the edge of the bath and sighed contentedly. _Cello Suite No.1 in G Major BWV 1007_ by Johann Sebastian Bach was blasting through her earbuds.

Little did she know that there was someone in a mask watching her in the bath.

The bathroom door slammed abruptly and blew out some of the candles that were next to the tub. Lauren sat upright and tore the earbuds out.

“Hello? Guys? What are you doing out there? Being creepy? Oh-kay.”

Lauren climbed out of the bath and shivered. She reached for the fluffy white towel and, wrapping herself in it, she took a few steps towards the counter. She stopped when she saw her purple sock on the ground. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. My clothes, really? Whichever one of you did this is off my Christmas list! Seriously, not cool, guys. Not cool at all.” Her eyes narrowed when she noticed that her cute rubber duck was also missing. “And Mr. Duck? Goddamn criminals…”

Lauren sighed frustratedly and left the bathroom. “Camila? Ashley? What the hell?”

The clock on the wall chimed suddenly and Lauren flinched. “Stupid fucking… clocks.”

She made her way down the stairs of the lodge. “Camila? Dinah? Normani? This is really getting out of hand, okay? It was all very funny, ha ha, look at Lauren walking around in a towel.” Lauren blinked when she saw a balloon tied to the railing with an arrow pointing down the stairs. “I want this to be over. Have you had enough?”

Lauren continued her descent down the stairs. “Can I have my clothes back now or am I supposed to hang around in a towel for the rest of the week?” No one responded to her pleas. In fact, Lauren was pretty sure that no one else was in the lodge besides her. “Towel it is, then.”

She walked to the kitchen and poked her head in. No sign of anyone, but there was a blood stain on the wall. “You in the kitchen? ‘Cooking’ something up?” Lauren grimaced at her own joke. “Okay, yeah, that was bad.”

The TV suddenly turned on, static buzzing on the screen.

“Ah! Fuck!” Lauren brought her hand to her mouth in shock. “Not gonna mess with that…”

She made her way to the dining room. “Anyone in here?” Lauren looked around hopefully, but only found a business card resting on the table. She picked it up and examined it. Somebody had allegedly ordered a bunch of saws and cutting blades from a supply business.

“Okay, if you all were trying to freak me out… guess what? You succeeded!” Lauren cried to the seemingly empty lodge.

Lauren grabbed a flashlight and stormed into the cinema room. She flipped it on and used it to look around. “Hey, guys, come on! I really don’t appreciate the silent treatment here. You’re lucky I’m _very_ relaxed from my bath.”

The cinema room doors shut suddenly. Lauren screamed.

 _“Hello, Lauren. I don’t think you’ll have much luck by looking, dear,”_ a deep voice said.

“What…? What the hell!” She quivered, half from anger and half from fear.

_“You’re only going to see what I want you to see, and I have quite a lot to show you, Lauren.”_

Lauren’s breathing picked up as she backed up slowly. “What’s going on!?”

_“Open your eyes.”_

The screen of the cinema room turned on. Lauren gasped in horror at what she was being shown. This creep, this total fucking creep, somehow managed to _film_ her in the bathtub.

“Oh my God.”

 _“She’s quite beautiful, isn’t she? A beautiful, bathing bird,”_ the creep continued. _“So innocent, so fragile…”_

“How… why…” Lauren sputtered.

_“Do you think she has any idea of what lies ahead? Do you think she knew that these were the last happy moments of this creature’s life?”_

Her heartbeat was going a mile a minute. She didn’t know how long she was going to last before she ended up passing out, or worse, crying.

“Why-” Lauren’s breath hitched. “why are you showing this to me?”

_“Why are you watching?”_

The screen changed to show Ashley tied up against a board. A saw was edging towards her and Ashley was screaming at the top of her lungs. Lauren didn’t want to watch, but something stopped her from looking away from the scene, in the way that you couldn’t tear your eyes away from a car crash or a building on fire.

“Ashley,” Lauren gasped. “No…”

_“How does this make you feel?”_

The saw began to cut into Ashley. Lauren’s mouth opened in a soundless wail as she watched _her_ girl, the spunky, blue-haired girl that she had loved quietly and painfully for months, get sawed into two bloody pieces. This wasn’t real. She had to be dreaming. She’d wake up in a few seconds in the bath and everything would be fine. She pinched her arm, hard, but this was not the case.

“Oh my God! What did you do?” Lauren yelled, feeling her eyes fill with hot tears.

_“Karla made her choice. I only did as she wished.”_

Lauren shook her head violently. Tears began streaming down her cheeks at full force. She felt like she was suffocating in misery, practically choking on the news that Ashley was dead and gone. “This isn’t- this can’t be possible… this isn’t right! I can’t lose two people I _love_ so easily! First Lucy, now Ashley… fuck!¨

She heard the creep gasp. Lauren didn’t even think too much of it. She was too busy wiping her tears and trying to cope with the fact that she just watched Ashley _die._ Lauren figured she really was a bad luck charm. Everyone around her ended up in serious peril.

 _“Y-You loved her?”_ The creep sounded vulnerable and uncertain.

Lauren wiped her nose and nodded. “Damn right I did. I was going to tell her, too… oh, I’m- I’m too late.”

Quiet overcame the room. She sobbed and hugged herself tightly. It took her so long for her to find herself again after Lucy died. Ashley was her rock, and eventually Lauren had fallen for her. Who was going to save her after this? Salt poured into the barely-healed wound of her heart would be impossible to fix now.

Lauren heard footsteps approach her. She figured that it was the creep about to kill her. That was fine. If the creep wanted her dead, she’d gladly go too. At least on the other side, she would have Ashley, and it was more than could be said for this pitiful existence. Lauren stiffened when she felt arms around her. Her vision was too blurred, but she thought she could see the bright white mask of the creep. The weird thing was that the creep was a _she_ instead of a he. She could tell by the fact that this psycho had a _nice_ pair of breasts. Hopefully Ashley wasn’t cursing her from the heavens for thinking that. Another thing that scared her was that the psycho’s embrace felt really _familiar_.

She finally got a hold of herself and screamed. Lauren pushed the psycho away from her and darted out of the room.

_“You really shouldn’t have done that, Lauren. Now I’ll have to kill the beautiful bathing bird.”_

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Lauren cursed repeatedly as she ran into the guest room. She jumped over the guest bed and bolted out of the room. She ran down the hallway of the lodge and down the stairs into the basement. She remembered that there was a broken step that she nearly tripped on on the way down before, so Lauren quickly leaped over it and continued running.

She rounded a corner and stopped. “Damn, damn, damn!” Lauren heard the psycho come down the stairs. She had to think fast. Lauren chose to run again. She was on the track team in high school, after all.

Lauren ran to the cellar. She saw a door at the end of the hallway. “Oh, thank God!” Lauren sighed in relief and moved to open the door. Her eyes widened when she realized that the door had… no handle? “No handle! Seriously!? What kind of fucking door has no handle?”

Lauren pushed on the door and forced her way into the room. She slammed the door on the psycho and hastily locked it. The psycho’s hand came in through the handle-hole. “Ahh! Get out!” She closed the barrier.

She ran towards the end of the hallway and forced yet another door down. Lauren walked down another hallway. She believed she was in the old hotel because of all the old wood and creepy paintings. Lauren figured this would be a good place to hide.

“Oh, crap. Oh, fuck! Shit,” Lauren swore as she climbed into an old elevator and ducked. She turned her flashlight off.

Above her the psycho had just arrived and was walking towards the elevator. But now that she was no longer running for her life, her body decided it was the perfect time to start crying again. Her cheeks were wet and hot and she brought her hand to her mouth. If she made any noise, she was done for.

Lauren sobbed quietly.

The psycho heard her. _“Here, little kitty… Here, pussy, pussy.”_

Lauren startled sniffling. _Fuck,_ she thought. The psycho knelt down and looked into the elevator. She was pretty sure that the psycho could hear her.

But then, Lauren heard a voice that sounded a _whole_ lot like Ashley’s in place of her imminent demise.

_“I’m so sorry, Lauren. Please forgive me.”_

Lauren bit down on her finger to stop herself from sobbing again, tasting blood. Her mind was playing tricks on her again, because there was _no_ way that Ashley was alive. That video was too realistic.

Besides, Ashley would _never_ fake her own death. That was just taking things too far.

The psycho stood back up. _“Fuck! I’m going to find you again, little bird.”_

Lauren let out a sigh of relief when she heard the creep walk away. She was too relieved to question why. She wiped her eyes, sloughing tears off of her face. On to her next problem: finding some damn clothes. And her rubber ducky.


	7. Chapter Six: Psychosis

**FIVE HOURS UNTIL DAWN**

******02:03**

“Zendaya! What are you going to do? What are you going to do!?” Normani said in a panicky tone as she clutched onto Zendaya’s arm.

“Relax, they’re just deer. They’re not going to hurt you…” Zendaya assured her girlfriend.

Zendaya and Normani slowly began to walk forward. The herd started to step back as they advanced. She was beginning to feel pretty damn confident about this. A deer blocked their path. Zendaya clutched the axe closer to her. She _could_ attack them, but the deer weren’t being aggressive.

The elk sniffed Zendaya and then looked at her expectantly.

“Just walk slow,” she told Normani. “It’s okay.”

Normani whimpered and followed after her.

Zendaya walked through the herd. She was genuinely surprised when the herd began to move out of the way. And to think that she was going to attack those deer! They made it to the pile of rocks and climbed over them.

“That was so close,” Normani admitted.

Zendaya nodded. “Yeah, really scary.”

**02:21**

“So, if we do manage to get someone on the radio-” Normani reiterated the millionth time since they started walking towards the fire tower. She probably realized she sounded crazy annoying, but she had her doubts. And she needed to make sure her meat brain of a girlfriend knew their plan.

“We will,” Zendaya said.

Normani sighed. “Then we tell them we need help.” She shivered as a cold gust of wind hit her. “What should we do while we wait?”

“We could go back to the lodge and get everyone else.”

Normani snorted and shook her head. “Um, hello? Not happening, Zendaya!” Zendaya looked taken aback. Normani would have felt bad if Zendaya didn’t act like an idiot all of the time. Still, she appreciated her a lot. “We should stay here in case the people we contact need to tell us additional things.”

Zendaya nodded dejectedly. “Uh yeah, you’re right.”

Normani and Zendaya were finally at the fire tower after a long walk. Normani was tired and in a great need to sit down, but she had other priorities besides getting her beauty rest.

A bright light turned on and Normani screamed in surprise. “What the hell!?”

“It’s just a security light! Don’t worry.”

“Ugh, more like a blinding death light,” Normani complained.

Normani noticed a small wooden object poking out from the snow near the tower. She licked her lips and made her way to the location near the picnic table. Normani knelt down and picked up the totem. It was a very intricately carved elk with yellow accents. She turned it over.

An image flashed before her showing Camila pressing a gun up to her chin and then putting it back down on a table.

She frowned and stood back up. Zendaya was already waiting for her by the stairs to the fire tower. Normani sent her an uneasy smile and started climbing the stairs. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Normani grabbed onto the ladder and pulled herself up. Zendaya dropped her axe below her and followed after her.

Yet another ladder was present when they reached the top. Normani groaned. Climbing was not in her repertoire. She was a dancer, for crying out loud! The only gym classes she took in high school were the dance classes. She held in her complaints and climbed up the second ladder. Another gust of wind came through and nearly knocked Normani off. “Ugh, why is it so windy all of a sudden?”

Zendaya smiled grimly up at her. “We’re almost there.”

When Normani reached the top, she tsked. “ _Merde_ , these rangers make it impossible to actually climb this thing.”

“Ah, talk _français_ to me,” Zendaya purred. Normani turned her head down to glare at Zendaya. Did this girl ever know when to shut the fuck up? “What? I’m glad you’re acknowledging your French-Canadian roots.”

“Now is not the time for that, Z,” Normani said impatiently as she started climbing the third ladder. At the top of the ladder was a hatch that led to the main room. She pushed on it and then climbed in. Zendaya climbed in afterwards and locked the hatch.

“Damn, look at this place,” Zendaya said in awe. “It’s like no one’s been up here in years.”

“Not true,” Normani replied as she noticed a missing poster on the wall for Vero. She pointed to the poster and frowned. “Poor Vero… sorry you’re still missing.”

Zendaya crossed her arms over her chest. “After tonight, the girls’ disappearance is starting to make some sense.”

Normani sighed sadly. She didn’t want things to come to this. She just wanted to teach Vero a lesson for being into Dinah. Normani never expected her to just run away like that, and she felt guilty. Ally and her fought over who was more to blame, and then Dinah and Normani’s breakup pulled them apart even more.

She walked over to the radio and attempted to turn it on. No power, duh.

“Z, can you look for a power source? I’m gonna check outside.”

Zendaya nodded and started looking around for some sort of switch.

Normani walked outside to the balcony of the fire tower. If this place wasn’t completely creepy now, Normani would find the outdoors to be absolutely gorgeous. She noticed a bright red flare gun on the wall. Her hopes rose, and she reached over and grabbed the gun.

“Hey, Z?” Normani called. “I found a flare gun!”

Zendaya came rushing outside with a frazzled look on her face. “Uh, really? Can I have it?”

Normani raised a brow. She found it hard to believe that giving it to Zendaya would help anything. That girl was useless. “You know what? Fine.”

Her girlfriend smiled gratefully and took the flare gun from her and then fired it into the air. “Hopefully that’ll get someone’s attention.”

“Hopefully someone that isn’t a psychopath,” Normani mumbled.

Zendaya walked back into the main room. “Oh, Mani? I found the fuse box and turned the power on.”

Normani smiled warmly. Okay, maybe Zendaya was a little more useful than she thought. She just remembered Dinah being able to do everything without Normani’s guidance. In some ways, she missed that. Normani and Dinah were such a good couple. Slutty Brooke just had to ruin everything.

She walked over to the printer and pressed the button. A wanted poster printed out. Normani frowned when she saw that it was for Lucy. “Ugh… I’m sorry you’re still missing too, Lucy.”

Normani fine tuned the radio.

_“-ranger service for Blackwood County. Over.”_

Normani pressed the button for the intercom. “Hello? Anyone out there? Please say something if you’re there. Please, we need help! Over. Shit. Over.”

_“...Hello?”_

“Oh thank God! Oh thank God! We need help, please!” Normani pleaded.

“ _...Hello is someone trying to contact us? This is the park ranger service for Blackwood County. I'm not getting your signal very well. Please speak slowly and clearly, over.”_

Normani sighed frustratedly and spoke back into the microphone. “Please help! Please help! We’re suck on Blackwood Mountain and there’s a maniac-”

_“...If you can hear this, please repeat your message as I am unable to understand what you are saying, over.”_

She swore loudly. “We need help, please!”

_“Hello? Can you please identify yourself?”_

This was going absolutely nowhere. She didn’t have much of a choice though. “Oh my God. Okay… this is- my name is Normani. Hello?”

_“You’re not coming through clearly, please repeat, over.”_

Normani ran a hand through her hair. “We’re on Blackwood Mountain by the ski lodge. There’s a killer and he’s after us and he’s already killed one of our friends. Oh, please help, you’ve got to help us!”

The security light turned on from behind them. Normani quickly whipped her head around. Zendaya was already looking in that direction too.

“Something tripped the motion sensor,” Zendaya explained. “Probably a deer.”

The radio spoke up again.

_“I read you, ma'am. Please do not leave your position. We will send out helicopters to get you as soon as the storm has subsided, over.”_

Normani didn’t like the sound of that. She pressed her face closer to the to the mic. “What? When? How long?”

_“Dawn, at the earliest. Not until dawn, over.”_

The hatch started banging loudly.

“Jesus!” Zendaya gasped.

“Oh no, it’s him! He’s coming for us,” Normani wailed.

The banging stopped suddenly. A loud creak was heard from the tower’s supports and the tower started leaning. Somebody cut the support cable of the tower.

“Ahh! Zendaya, what is happening?”

“I-I don’t know.” The tower shook again and Zendaya did her best to try and hold Normani upright. “The tower!”

The tower began to fall down.

“Don’t move!” Zendaya cried. Normani screamed and clutched onto Zendaya tightly. The force of the tower falling on her side caused Normani to fly out of Zendaya’s arms and onto the window. Zendaya was able to grab one of the support beams. “Normani!”

A printer came sliding towards her at full speed. Normani rolled over so the printer would smash through the window she previously occupied. When she rolled back, she realized she made a big mistake. Normani fell through the open window. She clung to the side bars to stop her fall. “Fuck me! Jesus shit.”

The printer fell beside her along with the radio.

“Shit! Shit! No…”

“Oh, shit!”

Even with Normani and Zendaya’s loud pleas, they couldn’t stop the tower from tumbling into the mines.

**02:43**

“Oh, fuck!” Zendaya groaned as she climbed out of the tower. The tower started to shake a bit and she quickly steadied herself. “Oh, God..”

“Zendaya! Oh my God! Zendaya, please help me!” Normani cried from below her.

Zendaya swallowed nervously. “Ah, I’m coming… It’s kind of unsteady here.”

“Does it look like I care?” Normani seethed causing Zendaya to wince. “You’ve got to do something right now! What are you waiting for?”

“I’m thinking, let me think!” Zendaya shot back angrily.

Normani laughed mirthlessly. “You can’t think, bitch please! Just get me out of here.”

Zendaya bit her lip and looked down at Normani. “Listen, Normani… You’re upset, you need to calm down. I promise you’re going to be fine.”

“Ugh, stop talking! I can’t take it.”

She narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend. “Stop yelling at me and let me work this out, okay?”

“Yeah, you just take all the time you need. Not like I’m going anywhere,” she snarked.

Zendaya sighed agitatedly. Why did Normani have to always be so difficult? For crying out loud, they were in a life or death situation! If Normani wanted to have any chance of getting out of there, she had to stop treating Zendaya like crap. But Zendaya always endured her girlfriend without complaint. That was how their relationship worked.

“I’m gonna try and pull you up, don’t move!”

Normani gasped. “Thank goodness! Please help me! I’m gonna fall…”

Zendaya knelt down and tried to grab Normani’s hand. Normani looked eager, hungry to get back up. Her hand slipped as she tried to grab Zendaya’s hand. Normani whimpered as the tower shook and she slipped further.

“Shit! Oh, shit! Z!”

“Woah,” Zendaya breathed out. “I don’t wanna tip it.” She reached out and tried to grab Normani’s hand again. Normani exhaled shakily and reached her hand out. “Come on, come on,” Zendaya grunted.

The tower shook again. Normani screamed and lost her grip.

“Zendaya! Oh no! Zendaya!” Normani cried as she fell downwards.

“Normani!” Zendaya yelled to the abyss below. She didn’t have much time to react. The tower was about to fall to the ground. She ran and jumped to the nearest ledge as the tower fell behind her. Zendaya landed on the ledge hard and hit her head.

Her vision blurred and she groaned.

Zendaya woke up with a start. She gasped and looked around. She was in some sort of cave. “Normani? Mani… fuck. Mani! Normani! Normani!” Zendaya called repeatedly as she stood up and made her way to towards the cavern.

It was too dark to see and Zendaya felt weak and woozy. She groaned stiffly as she continued to limp.

Something grabbed her from behind and started dragging her.

“Ah! Fuck, no! No!”

Zendaya was lifted in the air. She didn’t know how or why it happened, but the next thing she knew she felt something sharp hit her neck. It pierced through her, cutting through her skin, throat, and jaw, until the pointy bit was shoved against her front tooth. But the now missing front tooth was the least of Zendaya Maree Coleman’s worries. Blood was rising and pouring out of the girl’s mouth.

She gagged and struggled to breathe, but her own blood as blocking her airway. She struggled to free herself from her hanging doom, but it was no use. Zendaya died a few seconds later with a mouth overflowing with blood and wide eyes filled with a look of surprise.

**02:03**

Camila ran down the stairs to the second floor looking quite discouraged. Ariana didn’t take that as very good sign.

“She wasn’t up there?” Ariana questioned worryingly.

“I don’t know… I didn’t see her,” Camila said slowly. “She wasn’t in the bathroom. Her phone is still in there, so she couldn’t have gone far. She has to be down here!”

Ariana frowned and shook her head. “No way, Mila, I would’ve seen her.” She crossed her arms over her chest and started walking past a table. The candle on it blew out suddenly. Her eyes widened. “Did that just happen?”

Camila’s forehead creased. “Dammit! What is going on here?”

The pair made their way down the stairs. Ariana found herself unable to tear her gaze away from Camila. She looked so fragile and upset. She figured that it must’ve been so hard for her to watch her best friend die. Camila was doing an amazing job of holding it together.

Ariana pushed open the doors to the cinema room. “Camila…”

“Laur-” Camila started to call out but then stopped when Ariana said her name. “Hm?”

“Camila, I just wanna say… what happened back there in the shed… I know how hard that was. Ashley was your _best_ friend.”

Camila’s lip quivered and she shook her head slowly. “Ari, stop.”

“No,” Ariana protested. “I just wanted to say- I mean thank you- thank you for saving my life-”

“Ari, what was I going to do!? I couldn’t let _anything_ happen to you. I couldn’t…” Camila said endearingly. Ariana sniffled in response. Maybe it should have been her that was sacrificed. But she wanted to live, she needed to live. She had to tell Camila the truth about her feelings. “Are you alright?”

Ariana nodded. “Yeah, I just… I know how close you and Ashley were. Camila-”

“Let’s just go find Lauren, okay? That’s what our task is now.”

Ariana slumped over, defeated, and nodded. They left the cinema room. The door slammed behind them, scaring the crud out of Ariana. “Oh, what the heck?” She tried to open the door to the guest room. It opened slightly but then closed abruptly.

“This is so effed up,” Camila said frustratedly.

The door to the hallway opened quickly. Ariana screamed and clutched onto Camila’s arm. And then she saw something stranger. A figure was walking at the end of the hallway. It looked white, ghost-like, and very creepy. She gasped louder than she wanted to. There was already a psychotic killer out there. She did not want to deal with something supernatural.“W-Wait a minute. Did you see that?”

“Uhh… Did I see what?”

“That. Camila. That.”

“Talk some sense,” Camila urged her.

Ariana gulped. “It was like a see-through shape. A ghost.”

“Oh, boy…”

“I’m serious!” Ariana insisted. “Why don’t you believe me? I said I saw it, does that count for anything?”

Camila gave her an annoyed look. “Look, we’ve been through hell tonight. Okay? Your mind is fried. My mind is fried. I don’t even trust what I am seeing.”

Ariana bit her lip. She didn’t know what she saw. Maybe Camila was right and it was a figment of her imagination. “I don’t know… But I saw something,” she conceded.

“Ari, it’s okay,” Camila assured her. “We’re both kind of out of our heads right now. I mean, we just gotta pull it together. Right?”

“Mila…”

“Let’s just try to keep our shit together, okay?”

Ariana nodded. She still couldn’t shake the image of that ghost from her mind. “Are we going crazy down here?” She looked over at the door of the basement and inhaled sharply. There was no way… Lauren couldn’t be down there. The basement was creepy as hell. Nobody would willingly want to hang out down there. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Camila took a few steps forward towards the door. “It’s the only place left Lauren could be, Ari.”

Ariana whined and shifted uncomfortably. “I wish we could just find everyone else, and-”

“What if Lauren needs us?” Camila asked worryingly. “What if she’s in trouble?”

“Oh, God…”

The door to the basement swung open. Ariana was startled again by how quickly it swung open. Camila reached over and grabbed Ariana’s hand. She guided her down the basement. A loud crash was heard causing Ariana to flinch. She whimpered and looked to Camila for guidance. She was too determined to get down the stairs though. When they reached the bottom, a glass object flew out of a nearby cabinet and smashed against the floor.

“Oh! Woahh! You’ve got to be kidding me,” Camila yelped.

Ariana squeezed Camila’s hand tightly. “What the hell is going on in here?”

A noise that sounded like wood scratching against concrete was heard. Ariana whipped around and screamed when she saw a rocking horse move by itself. “Oh no…” Camila turned around too and looked at the rocking horse warily. “That scared me so much, Mila.”

Camila’s forehead creased as she frowned. “You moved that, didn’t you? You knocked into it?”

“I don’t- I don’t think so,” Ariana replied quietly. Camila’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “How did everything get so freaky around here? Doors slamming and candles lighting up! And who could forget that specter or whatever it was-”

“Ariana, I think you’re ignoring what’s really happening right now,” Camila cut her off.

Ariana shook her head violently and glared at her. “Camila! Don’t tell me you didn’t see that translucent figure pass by us minutes ago?”

“We… we could be seeing things.”

“I know what I saw!” Ariana retorted angrily. “I’m _not_ imagining things.”

Camila inhaled sharply and tore her hand away from Ariana. She stepped around to look at her. Ariana hadn’t seen Camila _this_ angry in forever. “Yeah, well I saw things too! I saw what happened to Ashley in the shed. Ari, I had to fucking pick between my best friend and my- you. I watched her get sawed apart! That’s what I’m worried about…”

Ariana tried to grab Camila’s hand. “Oh, Mila… I know… I know…”

“And you know what I’m _really_ worried about? Lauren motherfucking Michelle Jauregui! What’s happened to her? If there’s some maniac out there, she could be dead too! I have to explain to her what happened in the shed. Ashley’s death is _my_ fault and I _know_ Lauren, know how she feels… If the maniac tells her that I killed her girl, she’ll hate me! She has to know the truth. I would _never_ hurt Ashley.” Camila wiped her cheeks and hid her face from Ariana. Ariana felt terrible. She didn’t mean to make Camila upset. All she wanted was some comfort and reassurance. She kept forgetting that Camila was taking what happened in the shed harshly.

“Don’t say that,” Ariana pleaded. “Camila, I’m sorry!”

Camila sniffled. “Whatever, let’s just go.” She stalked off, leaving a confused and upset Ariana.

Ariana watched Camila walk down the hallway and look at some things on the shelves. She decided she’d be useful for once and help her too. Ariana brought her flashlight up to the left side of the room. Her lips parted when she saw the dollhouse. It was a soft rose color. She wondered if it belonged to Ashley as a kid. Ashley didn’t seem like a person who liked pink a whole lot.

She walked up to the dollhouse and shined her light into the windows. Her eyes widened when she saw that there were a bunch of dolls standing together and facing the door.

“Mila, come look at this,” Ariana urged. Camila stopped in what she was doing and stepped back over to her. “You can see in the windows…”

“What am I supposed to be looking at? Furniture?” Camila quipped skeptically.

Ariana pursed her lips. “No, it’s a whole scene! With dolls and everything.” She looked around for a way to open the dollhouse but ended up only finding a keyhole… with no key!

“Guess you need a key to play with the dolls,” Camila remarked.

Ariana sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She heard rustling and looked to the end of the hallway. There it was again, the ghost. It was slowly floating down the hallway.

“Camila!” Ariana whisper-yelled. “The ghost!”

Camila spun around frantically. “What!?” She looked down the hallway and crinkled her nose in confusion. Ariana groaned. Of _course_ the ghost had to disappear then.

“Didn’t you see it?” Ariana asked hopefully.

“Ah… no.”

Ariana huffed, noticing that Camila had a shiny object in her hand. “You were on your phone. On Twitter, I bet,” she accused. “What were you tweeting? #there’safreakingghostafterus!?”

“Hey, calm down! There’s no ghost here. You’re just freaked out because of what happened with Ashley-”

“I _saw_ a ghost,” Ariana insisted. “It looked like Vero! It totally looked like Vero!”

“Wait, what?” Camila gasped.

“O-Or maybe Lucy…”

“Oh my Gaga, are you thinking that they followed us here from the seance?” she asked incredulously. Ariana nodded her head in confirmation. “Well, guess what? They didn’t! Because ghosts _don’t_ exist!”

Ariana frowned. “Oh, yeah?” She placed her hands on her hips. “Then, who the hell was talking to us at the seance?”

Camila seemed to consider her for a second, before replying meekly, “... John Cena.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes at Camila. Did she ever take anything seriously? Heck, no. It was annoying sometimes.

A scream pierced through the air and a picture down the hall fell off.

“What did that!?” Ariana whimpered.

“It has to be the wind…”

“Camila, there’s no wind down here!”

Ariana huffed and walked over to the fallen painting. A key was wedged behind it. She picked it up and smiled grimly. “Ah, there’s the key.”

She looked down the hallway once more. The ghost was back and scarier than ever. “Ah! Oh my God, Camila!”

Camila looked up suddenly, and her eyes widened. Ariana was relieved that Camila actually saw what she was seeing. She was sure she wasn’t going nuts now.

“Wow, that’s…”

“See?” Ariana said. “What did I tell you?”

Camila grimaced. “Listen, that’s fucking crazy. There shouldn’t be a ghost!” She scratched her head. “I’m gonna go check it out. You can… open the creepy dollhouse?”

Ariana grumbled her agreement. While Camila sprinted down the hall, Ariana returned to the dollhouse. She stuck the key in the keyhole and turned it. “I feel like the ghost wanted to show me this. That’s why it knocked down the painting.”  She opened the dollhouse and examined the bedroom. Standing in the middle of the room was a brunette next to a tan blonde doll. Over by the bed was a short doll with blonde pigtails and a dark-skinned doll with a blue racer jacket. Behind the partition was a doll with a green beanie. A miniature camera was placed by the closet and was manned by a curly haired doll in a gray hoodie. Over in the kitchen a brunette doll and a blue-haired doll were slumped over the counter, clutching beer bottles. In the living room, a doll in a red sweater and another doll in a pink parka were cuddled up together on the couch.

Camila gasped from behind her. “No way... is that us?”

Ariana nodded. “Yeah… Waiting for Vero for that stupid prank… last year.” She pursed her lips. “But it’s so accurate! That’s exactly where Zendaya was standing. And there I am there…” She pointed to the doll in the beanie.

“This was obviously set up by someone who was there,” Camila concluded. “This person wanted to warn us or mess with us.”

“It has to be the ghost!” Ariana replied. “It’s trying to tell us that the maniac killed Vero and Lucy!”

“The bastard… He’s trying to fuck with our heads.”

“Why would he!? What’s the point?”

“He’s trying to tell us that he’s going to come after us.”

One of the dolls’ heads turned around and opened their eyes. Ariana and Camila both screamed and jumped back. “Holy…” Ariana clutched her chest. She noticed something sticking out from the top of the dollhouse. It was a leather-bound journal. She examined the journal with an arched eyebrow. “Woah, it’s Vero’s diary.” She flipped it open.

The first entry was from October.

**OCTOBER 29TH**

_“I really think Ashley’s doing better now that she’s out of the hospital. I saw her today and she seemed better. She’s pretty upbeat, but she talked like she’s been doing therapy for such a long time. I guess I didn’t know. Ashley doesn’t like to tell Lucy or me things. Funny how you can’t even know your own childhood best friend and roommate. I kinda need a good cry thinking about how much of a bad friend I am. How could I leave Ashley alone like this? She needs our help and I just… ignored her.”_

“Oh, Ash…” Ariana sighed. “I’m sorry things were going bad for you. I would’ve talked to you.”

**JANUARY 9TH**

_“Ashley, Lucy, and I finally have everything all planned out. The invitations are out! The party is going to happen! I_ _HATE_ _that I have to wait. So far Ari, Z, + Lauren have definitely said yes. Nothing from Dinah… :(“_

Ariana turned the page and bit down on her lip harshly.

**JANUARY 18TH**

_“O.M.G!! Dinah confirmed!! She called Ashley this afternoon. :D”_

“This is so… ugh,” Ariana mumbled.

**FEBRUARY 1ST**

_“Woohoo!! PARTY TIME tomorrow! Everyone being here on the mountain is going to be_ _SO_ _AWESOME! Cozy fires and hot tubs and OMG Dinah! I am so psyched to spend some time with her! Totally got to stop obsessing but I can’t help it - and I don’t want to.”_

“This is sad…” she breathed out as she closed the journal. “All she wanted was some time with Dinah and some fun. But we ruined it!”

Camila opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by a door creaking down the hallway. “I’m gonna go check it out,” Camila said bravely.

Ariana shook her head and grabbed Camila’s arm. “No, you’re not! There’s a ghost!”

“And I know how to ward off ghosts… with my good looks and bad puns!”

She facepalmed as she watched Camila head towards the end. Ariana crept up behind her to see what she was doing. Camila seemed to have gotten distracted again because she had her phone out and was scrolling through something. Ariana rolled her eyes at how easily distracted she was and opened the creaky door.

Ariana stepped inside and trembled. Something didn’t seem right about this room. Just then a huge cloth or something that felt like that dropped on her head. “Ahh! No!” Ariana screamed and attempted to get it off of her. The door slammed behind her.

“Ariana!” Camila called out in surprise. Ariana forced the cloth off of her and started banging on the door.

Camila opened the door successfully. She sighed in relief and threw her arms around Ariana. “Oh, gosh, are you okay?” Ariana nodded and buried her face in the crook of Camila’s neck. Camila soothingly began to stroke her hair and rub her back. “And I did see something behind you. It was definitely a ghost. I’m sorry for doubting you.”

“It’s… okay…” Ariana managed to say, despite her chest feeling like it was squeezing the life out of her.

“C’mon, let’s take a look around.”

Ariana pointed her flashlight over to the the desk nearest to her. She noticed a light bulb catalog propped on something sharp. “What the… this doesn’t seem as old as the other stuff down here. See, Mila?” She lifted the catalog up and showed it to Camila.

“A catalog for industrial lights, how strange,” Camila remarked.

“And… look!” Ariana pointed to one of the bulbs on the cover. “One of them is circled.”

Camila pursed her lips. “I doubt Ashley would have been interested in light bulbs, so it has to be the psycho’s.”

Ariana glanced at something glowing due to the reflection of her flashlight. It was sharp object that she saw before. She picked it up and examined it. The object was actually a pair of scissors, a very sharp pair of scissors. Ariana figured she might need them later, so she pocketed them.

“Woah. Check this out! It’s a hidden camera.” Camila pointed to a camera that had a blinking red light. “It’s gotta be from the maniac.”

“I don’t like being watched.” Ariana pouted.

Camila sauntered over and turned the camera away from them. “Better?”

“Wait,” Ariana said. She reached over and turned the camera back. She stuck her face right in front of the camera. “Go suck an egg!” she screamed at the camera before kicking it over.

“Wow…” Camila chuckled. “That was so hot. You’re gonna make a dude or chick real happy with your badassery.”

Ariana blushed, knowing that she wanted to make _Camila_ happy with her badassery. She really wished she could tell her how she felt. Now wasn’t the time, no way. Not when they were being chased by a freaking maniac.

Her gaze moved to a doll’s head that was propped up on a metal pole. She swallowed as she took a step closer to take a look at it. A few cockroaches came bursting out of the doll’s mouth, causing Ariana to flail and jump back. “Oh, God, why?”

“Ugh. Nightmare fuel,” Camila said with a shudder.

The lodge shuddered along with her. Okay, not _literally_ , but the walls sure felt like they were shaking.

Camila opened the door to the next room. She let out a squeak in surprise. “Woah, there’s a whole ‘nother room here! And here’s the weird thing, it’s mammoth.”

“Like… big?” Ariana asked for clarification.

She nodded. “Yup, sure thing. I like to use animal names as descriptions.”

“Dork,” she remarked. Camila grabbed her hand and guided her down the stairs. Ariana was quite confused to find that the room that they were in looked like a hotel lobby or something. “Jesus, did you know that Ashley had a lodge on top of a freaking hotel?”

“No, I didn’t. Guess the Frangipanes do have a lot of secrets to hide.”

“Let’s just find Lauren and get out of here,” Ariana suggested. “It’s so creepy. I bet the ghost lives here.”

Camila picked up something on the ground. It was a black hair tie. “Could this be… Lauren’s? I mean she always has one, but…”

“I-I don’t know,” Ariana replied.

“Regardless, Lauren never takes that damn hair tie off. If it is hers, it means that something happened to her!”

“Oh no…” Ariana whimpered. “This is so bad. This is really bad.” She shivered. “I don’t think I can take any more of this.”

Camila squeezed her hand. “Me too. I’ve reached peak fun,” she joked. Ariana didn’t laugh, though. This was no situation to be laughing.

“All I wanted was to do was forget last year even happened,” Ariana admitted.

“I’m not sure Vero knew what she was doing,” Camila agreed.

“You know how it is when you’re crushing on someone pretty hard…” She chuckled, averting her gaze from Camila. “You’d do tons of crazy stuff because of them.”

“Great,” Camila spat. “You’re basically saying that we put a vulnerable friend in a terrible situation and essentially caused her to run away and never be heard from again.” Ariana bit her lip and nodded, but that didn’t seem to satisfy Camila. “Oh, who am I kidding? I wasn’t even part of the prank! I was sucking Jack Daniels dry. It was everyone else and _you_ …”

“If it was you,” Ariana croaked. “Don’t you think you would have run away? I mean, who likes being made fun of?”

Camila shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. People don’t make fun of me.”

“Not to your face,” she quipped. Camila’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock.

“Wait, what?”

Ariana frowned and put her hands up to Camila’s cheeks and cupped them. “Mila, we made her look so stupid, in front of all of her friends and the girl she liked. I can’t imagine doing anything worse to her.” Camila’s face fell. She looked vulnerable and just as upset as before. She looked at her like she was contemplating to do something. Oh God, was she going to kiss her? No. Camila didn’t like her like that. Ariana wasn’t good enough for her. “Um,” she said awkwardly as she stepped back. “Let’s just go look for Lauren.”

They walked into the right room. This storage room was filled with boxes, but one stuck out. There were tons of faked newspapers that had “Ex-Janitor Convicted For Arson” titles. “Why would anyone make fake newspapers?”

Camila shrugged as she rummaged through the old boxes. “I don’t know.”

They made their way towards the stairs, but Ariana had to stop. She knew she reached her limit. There was no way she was going to go downstairs. “You know what? No. Screw this.”

“Ari-”

“I’ve had enough! I’m not going to go down into this nightmare, Mila!” Ariana forced out.

Camila took a deep breath and looked at her worriedly. “Ariana, I understand. I’m really freaked out too. But if Lauren’s there all alone with a maniac and we leave? We’re basically killing her ourselves.”

Ariana tugged on her beanie. She really didn’t like the sound of going down there, but Camila was correct. “Gosh darn it to heck.”

“Ariana, come on…”

“Why are you always right?” Ariana asked shakily.

Camila raised a brow. “Uh… I’m not always right.”

“Well, when you’re right, you’re right,” she said.

“I don’t want to be, I’d rather leave.”

Ariana intertwined the fingers of their laced hands. “No. We’re going to find Lauren. Let’s go.”

They made their descent down the old, creaky stairs. “Mila, I’m getting a weird feeling about this.”

Camila pursed her lips. “What do you mean?”

“So, we’re saying that the same guy who made the newspapers also set up the camera, right?” Ariana looked over at her as Camila nodded in confirmation. “It just feels like he’s constructing this whole story for us. He’s watching us run. He’s watching us freak out. He’s watching us be tested to our limits. It’s some sort of fucking experiment!”

“It actually makes sense,” Camila agreed. “But, why?”

Ariana shined the flashlight at a big red box on the ground. It was a huge battery with switches and timers. There were labels on there like “TV” and “Lights”; it sure looked like someone was trying to control things remotely.

Camila opened the door to the next room and gestured for to walk in. Ariana walked in after her. The door slammed harshly behind her. She looked at Camila tentatively. She looked just scared as she did.

Ariana smelled something vile. She held her hand up to her nose and looked around. Hanging from the ceiling was a dead pig. What made it worse was that the pig looked hollow. It had been gutted. No stomach, no kidneys, no intestines, no nothing. “Oh… That’s so sick. Poor pig.”

“This can’t be for eating…” Camila gagged.

Ariana covered her mouth. “Then, what?” she said into her sleeve.

“It’s a grindhouse in here, gross.”

On the left of the room there were bloodied hooks and chains hanging from the ceiling. “What the heck?”

Camila stifled a laugh. “Oh man… This is so enticing. Sticks and stones may break his bones, but chains and whips excite him.”

Ariana hit her arm roughly. “Don’t joke or sing Rihanna lyrics! That’s so nasty.” She shuddered and examined it closely. “Do you think it’s his?”

“Has to be,” Camila replied. “Unless the Frangipanes are into some freaky shit. You know, I once stole Lauren’s phone while she was in the bathroom. She was sexting Ashley…”

“Don’t finish that story,” Ariana groaned.

“Shh, it gets better. Ashley _is_ a total freak. She wanted Lauren to tie her up and fuck her hard with a huge str-”

“Stop! Stop!”

“I’ll do anything if you say _por favor_ ,” Camila sang in response.

“Then stop, _per favore_ ,” Ariana shot back.

Camila seemed amused by her answer. “Oh man, Italian… Nice touch! All we need is Normani and we could totally start a Romance language band. Our first single could be ‘ _Por Favor_ / _S’il Vous Plait_ / _Per Favore_.’”

“I hate you so much,” Ariana whined. “We should not be this jovial when our friend is missing!”

Camila laughed gently. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry, Ari.”

On a nearby wall were six photos. The one on the top left was one of Lauren looking fine as hell. What? Ariana could admit that every single selfie Lauren took was absolutely flawless. She was like a Cuban goddess, but not as good looking as Camila. Dinah was in the top right making a duck face while holding a peace sign up. Ashley was in the middle left showing off her newest hairstyle. Ariana remembered when this was taken. Ashley went to get her hair dyed pink in August and it looked amazing. Ariana herself was in the middle right. It was a candid of her drinking a peppermint hot chocolate while staring out the window. The bottom right was a picture of Camila in a koala onesie and sticking her tongue out. Ariana realized that these were all taken from their Instagram. Some of these photos were from two years ago at the latest. It only meant that this psycho had been stalking them for a while.

The last picture was in black and white and had blood stains on it. The eyes were scratched and crossed out. Ariana gasped in horror; it was Zendaya. This psycho hated Zendaya a lot apparently. It was so disgusting and made her feel sick to her stomach. She bit her lip. “That’s us…”

“What’s this, a fucking hit list!?” Camila whisper-yelled. “What does this mean? Why is Zendaya crossed out? Does this mean that the psycho already killed her?” She frowned. “No, Ashley’s dead and her picture is fine. God, this is so fucked up!”

Ariana opened a door to a small room with a projector. “Hotel with a movie room,” she mused out loud. The projector turned on suddenly. Ariana looked at the screen in surprise.

Vero walked onto the screen with a shy, timid smile.

“Camila, it’s us! What!? The stupid prank.”

“No way…”

“I’ve never seen this video before,” Ariana admitted shyly. “She looks so…” Camila raised her eyebrow, expecting her to continue. “She’s so excited and alive.”

Camila frowned. “She has no idea of what’s to come.”

The camera switched to show Ariana giggling quietly. Ariana hated how excited she looked. It was so terrible. She wanted to erase that face from her mind or punch herself right in the face.

“I forgot you were such a willing participant,” Camila grumbled.

“This is so horrible. I couldn’t feel worse,” Ariana defended herself.

Camila snorted at her response. “You look like you were enjoying yourself.”

“That’s the worst part, isn’t it? We were just playing a joke. It was supposed to be _funny_.”

A ghastly face appeared on the screen and screamed. Ariana jumped up and slammed the off button. “Camila, Camila, Camila! What is going on?”

“Ari, hey… Calm down.”

Ariana whimpered and shook her head, shaking violently. “No! I can’t handle this - ghosts, and these videos, and things flying around -”

“Calm down, listen to me for a sec-”

Ariana snorted in disbelief. “Calm down!? Why should I calm down, Camila?” Her heartbeat was going a mile a minute. Her airway felt blocked and her vision was blurred. She felt like that any moment she’d end up slumping to the floor because of a panic attack. _Breathe_ , she told herself. _Just breathe._ “Oh no… I can’t…”

“Listen, hey, it’s okay.” Camila wrapped her arm around Ariana and pulled her close to her. “This has got to be someone messing with us. Think about it… ghosts don’t hook up video cameras. They don’t play games.”

“T-Then wh-who...” Ariana stammered, trying her best to get her breathing in control.

“I don’t know… it has to be the same person who tied you up and killed Ashley, and the same person that probably has Lauren right now,” Camila said as she rubbed her back.

Ariana was silent for a moment. She took deep breaths and tried her best to keep it together. Camila’s chocolate brown eyes bored into her. Intense stares usually made her nervous, but Camila’s stare was more comforting than scary. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I wish I wasn’t.”

The door outside of the small room was smeared with blood. “Oh crap. Look at that.”

“Might be Lauren’s,” Camila replied. She pulled on the door and tried to open it, but cursed quietly when she couldn’t open it easily. “Ungh, let me try to open this.” Camila pulled on the door as hard as she could and managed to open it a crack. She stuck her foot in the door and turned to look back at Ariana. “C’mon… I’m not sure I can keep this door open for long. You gotta come through.”

Ariana looked to her right and spotted a figure walking to her right. It was definitely a woman. “Oh, rats, is that Lauren?”

“Huh?” Camila grunted. “Please don’t tell me you’re joking.”

Ariana shook her head as she continued to look over at the figure. “I swear, I swear it’s her!”

“Well I’m pretty sure whoever’s bleeding came through here. So, we gotta get moving now!” Camila sounded like she was in a lot of pain from trying to keep the door open. Poor tiny girl.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming!” Ariana relented as she slipped through the small crack Camila provided for her. Camila came in afterwards with a tired sigh of relief.

“Any longer and that thing would have crushed me,” Camila said dramatically.

Ariana narrowed her eyes when she noticed a box that controlled the basement’s temperature. “Why would anyone want to change the temperature of the basement?”

“Who knows what’s going on in that guy’s head, Ari.”

Ariana shrugged and started walking ahead.

“Please, no!” A voice that sounded so much like Lauren cried in anguish.

Ariana gasped. “L-Lauren?”

She and Camila pushed opened the double doors to find a girl with tangly black hair slumped over on a chair.

“Lauren!” Camila cried out and ran over to the chair. Ariana followed suit swiftly. She grasped the back of the chair and turned it over. Her jaw dropped in shock. That wasn’t Lauren, oh no. It was a dummy dressed in the outfit that she was wearing on the way up to the lodge.

Ariana noticed that the dummy had a missing sock. “Lauren! What did the psycho do to you? Sew you into a doll?”

“No, Ari… It’s a dummy. It’s not Lauren.”

“I can see that,” Ariana huffed.

Camila furrowed her brows. “But why… Why would someone dress a dummy up like Lauren?”

Ariana whimpered. “This is so crazy, this is so crazy-” She cut herself off when Camila screamed. Ariana whipped her head around to find the psycho grabbing Camila by the head and placing a mask over her face to knock her out with gas.

“Camila! Oh, shit!”

The psycho made his way towards her. Or her? Wait. Were those breasts? Ariana didn’t have time to figure out what assets this maniac had. “Agh, no! Get back! Stay the hell away from me!”

She pulled the scissors out of her pocket and stabbed the psycho on the shoulder. The psycho cried out in pain. _“Oh, no… Live and learn, princess.”_

Ariana felt a fist slam right into her face. She yelped in pain and fell to the ground.

 _“Live and learn,”_ was the last thing thing she heard until Ariana lost consciousness.

**03:11**

“Ohh… Oh, shit. Oh, crap. Ari, Ari!?”

Camila tried to move, but she couldn’t. She was tied to a chair. And Ariana, poor Ariana, was tied to a chair too. Her crush mumbled something and then groaned, finally looking up to look at her. Her left eye was bruised badly. It was so bad that Ariana didn’t look like she could even see out of that eye.

“Aw, shit, what happened to your eye?” Camila questioned worryingly.

“I think…” Ariana said groggily. “I think _she_ hit me.”

“Wait, she!?”

“The psycho… the psycho’s a chick.”

Camila cursed under her breath. “Plot twist of the century,” she grumbled. “But when I see _her_ , I’m gonna murder her fucking face off.”

“W-What is this?”

“This is her. This is the girl who killed Ashley, and now she’s going to kill us,” Camila replied.

“Nooo,” Ariana whined, flailing in her restraints. “Camila, I’m not ready to die!” She started crying. “I wish I could tell you… It’s just not fair!”

Camila tilted her head to the side. “Tell me what?”

“It’s too late, Camila! What’s the point of it anymore?”

“Stop beating around the bush… Tell me what’s going on.”

Ariana sniffled and shook her head. “We’ve always talked around it. And now, I mean, we’ve wasted everything!”

“Ariana, no…” Camila pleaded. “None of it was wasted.”

“H-Huh?”

She took a deep breath and looked right into Ariana’s tear-filled eyes. “Every moment I spent with you was the only thing I wanted to do with my time.” Camila found herself tearing up too. A quiet sob escaped her. “I’m sorry, I should have told you how I felt.”

Ariana gasped. “Camila…”

“I swear, when we get out of this-”

A saw that Camila didn’t even know that was above them started up and made its way down towards them.

“Oh fuck, no!” Camila shouted. Ariana started screaming and fighting her restraints. “Ariana, it’s okay! I’ll get you out of this. I won’t let you die!” Ariana started full-on sobbing which pulled at Camila’s heartstrings.

_“Hello, my special little subjects.”_

“I’m so scared, Camila…”

Camila bit her lip. “No, no… Ari, don’t be scared.”

_“Oh, you should be, Ariana, because here’s the twist: Karla has made one fatal choice today.”_

“Oh no… no…” Ariana wailed.

_“And now… She must make another. Karla… You can take the gun in front of you and shoot Ariana, or you can shoot yourself. Whoever is left can live! The choice is yours.”_

Camila rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no, fuck this shit.” She picked the gun up and shot the saw.

The psycho laughed. _“Don’t be so silly, Karla. There’s no way out.”_

Camila was a noble person. Her mother told her that she should _always_ put others before herself. It was easy for her to be used and abused. But if she met the right people, they’d do the same for her.

That was the main reason why Camila pushed the muzzle of the gun up to her chin.

“Wait, stop! You can’t do that,” Ariana cried. “It should be me! You chose to save me before, let me choose this time… Let me choose to save you.”

“Shut up, Ariana,” Camila said darkly. “I’m doing this. You can’t stop me.”

“If I do one last thing in my life… Please let me do this! Camila, please… Oh my God. Oh my God.”

Camila narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Ari. I do what I can to make sure that the people I care about are safe.”

Ariana started screaming again. Camila just smiled sadly as she pulled the trigger. Perhaps she and Ashley could pull off some wicked pranks on the other side together.


	8. Chapter Seven: Violence

**03:05**

“Ah, fuck…” Lauren complained as she banged her knee on the side of the air vent _again_. She was still in her towel. After hours of wandering around and looking for her damn clothes, she found nothing. That stupid, creepy psycho probably was sitting off in a lair and smelling her clothes like a little maniac.

Finally she reached the end of her path. Lauren kicked the vent lid down and climbed out. Her eyes widened when she realized where she was. She literally crawled right into the creep’s lair.

“Oh…” Lauren sighed. “Nice going.”

She walked over to the desk. “Might as well look for some things-” She gasped when she saw a familiar yellow duck sitting on top of a whole bunch of papers. “Mr. Duck! You’re alive.” She picked her favorite bath toy up and pressed a kiss to its orange beak. “I was so afraid that mean lady killed you,” she cooed. She cradled the duck close to her. “You’re safe with mami now, don’t you worry. I won’t _ever_ let you get taken from me again.”

Lauren noticed something strange. There was a drawing of the same death machine that killed Ashley. But the strangest thing was, there was a hole in the board so someone could stick their head and make it look like they were being sawed apart.

“That’s… so strange. This can’t be right. Does this mean that-”

A file caught her attention. It was a psychiatric report with Ashley’s name on it. She couldn’t hide her curiosity. Ashley actually never told her much about her therapy sessions, only bits and pieces of information. There were a list of meds, all of them were antidepressants. She frowned. The doctor reported that her mental disorders were Major Depressive Disorder, possibly a personality disorder or two but Ashley refused to get tested for it, and also possibly Schizophrenia.

Lauren bit her lip. “Why didn’t Ash tell me these things? Antisocial Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder? I’m minoring in Psychology… She could have…” Lauren brought a hand up to wipe the tears starting to form in her eyes. “I could have helped her.”

She saw Ashley’s phone at the end of the table. Lauren frowned. She _really_ shouldn’t, but she had to find out more information. She typed in the passcode that Ashley entrusted with her with a while ago. “5. 2. 8. 7,” she said aloud as did so.

Lauren scrolled through her contacts and pressed the one that said Doctor Cowell. This had to be her psychiatrist.

**Tue, Jan 13, 09:47 AM**

_Dr. Cowell: Hi Ashley, it's Simon. I hope you don't mind me texting you, but this is important. I got your email. I don't think that your plan is going to help. I think you need to stop what you're doing and come to see me._

 

_Dr. Cowell: Please, pick up your phone. I'm getting worried._

 

_Ashley: LEAVE ME ALONE_

 

_Dr. Cowell: Are you still taking your meds?_

 

_Ashley: im fine_

 

_Dr. Cowell: It's very dangerous to stop taking your drugs mid course, Ashley._

 

_Dr. Cowell: Contact my office to make an appointment, please._

 

_Dr. Cowell: Ashley?_

 

_Dr. Cowell: Ashley, please respond._

 

Lauren put the phone back down. “Oh, Ashley…” There was a board above the desk with a bunch of newspaper clippings and pictures of Vero and Lucy. A post-it note that said “NEVER FORGET” in red letters caught her attention. “Man, this psycho was so obsessed with Vero and Lucy. Creep city.”

She picked up a voice recorder and pressed the play button. Lauren heard the voice test various creepy greetings. But the strange thing was, the voice gave out and she heard another feminine voice. It sounded _way_ too familiar.

“Holy shit,” Lauren gasped.

A video camera blinked from near her. Lauren turned her head to look at it. The creep must have been recording her. But, why?

She exited the room, squeezing the duck close to her. Lauren found herself in a room with a dummy in a chair. In fact, it was a dummy in her clothes. “Oh no… I do not feel like wearing that shit after it’s touched that. What the fuck?”

Lauren held onto the top of the towel and shuffled over to the a wall grate near the exit of the room. A hand reached out and grabbed her ankle. Lauren’s breath hitched and she knelt down to see what the hell grabbed her.

“Dinah!?” Lauren couldn’t hide her surprise. “What the hell- There’s a g-” She let out a sigh of relief. “Oh Dinah, thank God you found me.”

“It’s okay,” Dinah assured her. “You’re okay.”

“Where’s- Where’s Ally? She’s not with you?” Lauren inquired.

“Ally is dead,” Dinah said bluntly.

Lauren nearly choked on her breath. “What!?”

“He killed her, Lauren. There’s some maniac on the mountain who is trying to kill us. All of us. I swear to God, when everyone is safe and accounted for I am going to rip his nuts off one at a goddamn time,” Dinah growled.

Lauren couldn’t believe the harshness in Dinah’s tone. She seemed _so_ pissed. “Whoa.” She cleared her throat. “Listen, this guy you’re talking about… he is actually a girl.”

“Bitch, what?” Dinah frowned. “That sure looked like a dude. That’s so weird… did he, like, change genders with a magic trick? That’d be fucking cool.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “No, Dinah. The psycho’s a girl. I know because she attacked me. She showed me these videos too, and one of them showed Ashley being killed. She was ripped apart by this huge fucking sawblade.”

“Jesus Christ!”

“I think she’s living down here, and whoever the hell she is, she’s obsessed with Vero and Lucy!”

Dinah groaned. “God damn, that’s so strange.”

Lauren heard something bang against the wall and then Dinah curse. She assumed Dinah must have hit something in anger. “What the fuck is going on around here?” The banging continued. “Hey Lauser, there’s a door down here. Can you try and get it open from on the other side?”

She nodded and made her way to the door that had her own backpack hanging on the doorknob. Lauren grabbed it and made her way to the door where Dinah was. There was a plank blocking the door. Lauren moved it and the door swung open revealing a rather distressed looking Dinah Jane.

Dinah looked haggard and dirty. Her face had several bruises and she was wearing a somewhat torn army jacket.

“Oh, thank God,” Lauren said in relief and threw her arms around Dinah. Dinah hugged her back tightly. She start sniffling. “You look like hell… but, goddamn, I am _so_ happy to see you.”

Dinah rubbed her back. “Me too, okay? I just hope Mani, Camila, Ari, and Zendaya are okay.”

“Wait,” Lauren said, remembering something. “The death machine!”

She pulled away from Lauren and raised a brow. “What about it? Is there something special about it? Like it has saws… that’s kind of dope.”

Lauren nodded eagerly. “Yeah, but here’s the crazy thing: I found these plans, like, blueprints for a crazy machine just like the one Ashley was in. But it was a fake! It was for a dummy.”

“Lauren,” Dinah said in confusion. “Slow the fuck down.”

“Ashley might not be dead!”

Her friend’s eyes widened. “So, what does that…”

Lauren grasped Dinah’s shoulders. “If Ashley is alive, we have to go find her! I never got a chance to… Fuck! She’s out there with the psycho. The psycho could _actually_ kill her then. She could be out in the woods or in that creepy mental hospital,” she rambled. Thinking about all the possible places where Ashley could be made her emotional in a good way. She had so much hope now that she knew that there was a slim chance that Ashley was alive. She’d do _anything_ to see her well again.

Dinah shook her head. “I was in the Sanatorium. She wasn’t in there. Just a bunch of wolves and the psycho itself…”

“Um…” Lauren trailed off, tapping her foot impatiently. “The cable car! Maybe she escaped and asked for help.” A small smile returned to her face. “We could be _saved_ ”

“Lauren-”

“And I _know_ this sounds crazy, but what if she’s with Lucy and Vero? Like, maybe they finally found each other!”

“Lauren, fuck…”

Lauren was over the moon now. “All we need to do is find Ash! Yeah, that’ll be it! We can get the hell out of this nightmare.”

“Lauren, you’re missing the point-”

Lauren shook her head. “No, DJ, I-” She paused. It was only now that reality was hitting her like a pile of bricks. She saw that video. She _saw_ how Ashley cried in pain as her blood and guts were being spilled from her own body. That couldn’t be faked. “I-” And that whole thing with her thinking that Vero and Lucy were still okay? What the fuck? “I don’t know! I could be going crazy. There’s a chance! We can even get Ashley some help… she needs it, she’s sick! Dinah, you have to believe me. I think we can fucking fix things. We can forget last year ever happened.”

“Lauren,” Dinah spat. “I _saw_ the psycho drag Ally into the mines. I saw her scream and writhe as that maniac pulled on her. She killed her! She let Ally fall deep down into the depths. This psycho wouldn’t spare anyone. She murdered Ally. Ally is the sweetest fucking girl I know. And I know you know damn well that the psycho murdered Ashley too. Ashley’s off her rocker. Cut the bullshit.”

“I just… I just want to have faith that she’s still alive, I want her to be,” Lauren admitted quietly. “I-I love her. I love her, Dinah. And I finally got this chance to be with her and I didn’t tell her. You know, we fucked earlier this evening. You can say you’re the queen of eating pussy, but I know for a fact that Ashley Frangipane eats it like no other. I almost _told_ her I loved her. But I was too scared… I’m always too scared.” Lauren’s lip quivered. “I’m too nice, I’m too shy, I’m too quiet… all I do is sit and wait for things to come to me. I could’ve just reached out and grabbed it, but I couldn’t. I-I’m such a failure. Ashley deserves so much better than me.”

Warm arms wrapped around Lauren, and that was all it took for the tears to come spilling out. Lauren sobbed into Dinah’s neck. She tried her best to try and stay upright, but her knees buckled. Dinah held her as she cried. She rubbed her back and squeezed her tightly.

Dinah was comforting, but she wasn’t as comforting as the concept of Ashley coming through the door and sweeping her off her feet.

“Lauren Jauregui, you are the strongest woman I know,” Dinah mumbled. “I can’t believe you’d _ever_ think otherwise. Hell, if we’re being honest, you don’t deserve that clown. You didn’t deserve Lucy either. You deserve the _entire_ world.”

“I’m so lost and scared. I just wanna go home and pretend this weekend never happened,” Lauren croaked.

Dinah pressed a kiss to the top of Lauren’s head. “I know, honey, we’re gonna get through this.” She suddenly stiffened and coughed. “Wait, are you wearing a towel?”

“Um…” Lauren’s cheeks flushed. “Yeah, fucking psycho took my clothes while I was in the bath.”

“Damn, that’s just cold.”

“She even took Mr. Duck!”

Dinah huffed and rolled her eyes, pulling slightly away from Lauren. “You and that damn duck. Grow up, Ralph.”

“I am nineteen years old, I can do whatever the hell I want!”

“Go change, you doofus.”

Lauren stuck her tongue out and reached into her backpack. She pulled out a matching set of underwear, a white shirt, gray yoga pants, and a red hooded jacket. “Turn around, Dinah. I don’t want you to be too shocked by my gorgeous bod.” She took her time putting her clothes on.

“Shook,” Dinah said in reply. “I’m always shook by the ladies.”

She pulled out her headlamp from her backpack and placed it in her pocket. “Ugh, screw you.”

“Please!” A voice that sounded like Ariana cried.

“I can’t! I can’t decide!” Another voice that sounded like Camila shouted.

Lauren’s eyes widened. “Shit, what was that?”

“Ari and Walz… they sound like they’re in trouble.” Dinah frowned and grabbed Lauren’s hand. “Let’s go!”

The two of them rushed to the door on the other side of the room and forced it open. Sitting at a round table was Ariana and Camila tied up. Camila was holding a gun very close to her own face. The psycho was edging her way very close to the two girls.

“Nooo! Get away! Don’t hurt her,” Ariana howled.

Camila aimed her gun at the psycho and shot at her chest three times. The psycho paused and held her hands up to look down at her chest. _“Oh, Karla… Oh, Karla, Karla, Karla, Karla.”_

“What the fuck?” Camila looked at her gun in disbelief.

 _“You’ve never heard of blanks before?”_ The psycho’s voice changed.

Lauren’s jaw dropped. _No fucking way…_

“I mean, really?” The girl reached up and took her clown mask off. She threw it to the ground and grinned.

Lauren didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t believe that she was right after all this time.

Ashley Frangipane was alive. But not in the way that she expected it to be.

Ashley was the psycho all along.

A chorus of all the girls’ voices broke out all at once.

“Oh, God…”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“No way, oh fuck, that’s sick.”

“Ashley…? No…”

The love of Lauren’s life laughed maniacally. “Surprise!”

**03:00**

“Oh my God! Zendaya! Zendaya!”

Normani could endure a lot. She endured losing class presidency to Dinah Jane, mostly because they were dating at the time. She endured not getting accepted into Yale and instead going to UW with all the rest of her clown friends. She even endured dating a high school senior jock while she was a freshman in college. But she could _barely_ endure hanging upside down from a freaking rope tied around her ankle.

“Oh… Jesus… Shit. Oh shit! Dammit!”

The blood was rushing to Normani’s head and she absolutely hated it. She was going to be sick. “Alright, Mani, you can do this.”

She swung back and forth several times, trying her best to get a momentum. Her head felt woozy and she felt crazy dizzy. Normani grabbed onto a fallen ladder. The rope snapped as soon as she grabbed onto it.

“Okay,” she grunted. Normani climbed across the ladder.

An object from above fell before her. “Shit!” She lost her grip from the ladder and crashed onto the ledge below. Normani groaned in pain as she heard rumbling from behind her. It had to be the fire tower finally collapsing.

She sat up and rubbed her head. “Oh…” A rock fell from above and hit her shin. Normani screamed in pain and started scooting away from the ledge. As soon as she was far away from it, the ledge broke off and the fire tower tumbled into the abyss below. Normani winced and stood back up on her feet. She rubbed her shin. It was dark. There wasn’t much she could do about it though. Unless… her shirt. She could use it to make a torch.

“Here goes six hundred bucks,” Normani complained. “Better be worth it. I looked great in that top.”

Normani ripped off the bottom of her white top and wrapped it around a stick. She noticed a puddle of oil nearby and doused the torch. She exposed it to a nearby flame from the fire tower and sighed in relief when it lit up.

“Now we’re talking. Time to find Meatbrain, or maybe a way out of here.”

She made her way through the dark cavern. Normani had to admit that it was creepy as hell. She was afraid that something would jump out after her and kill her. It wasn’t time for her to die yet, she still had a world to take over.

A loud screeching noise was heard and she froze. “Hello…? Zendaya?”

There was a sign pointing to the mine elevator. Normani sighed in relief. An elevator meant there was a quick way out. She was more than happy to oblige.

As she walked uphill, she noticed a framed picture on the wall. That was odd. Why would a framed picture be in a mine of all places? She squinted to see a picture of thirty men known as “The Blasting Crew”. Men in the 1950s sure seemed excited to blast things apart.

Down the hill was a locked door. There was no way Normani was going to try and pick the lock with her long nails, so she just kicked the nearby minecart down so it would smash open the door.

Normani continued her way through until she reached a large cavern with an elevator lift. Below her feet was a demonic-looking totem with black accents. She knelt down, picked it up, and turned it over.

To her horror, she saw herself getting shot in the eye.

“What…?” Normani frowned. “That’s batshit crazy.”

She made her way to the elevator and lit one of the torch spaces near the elevator. Normani figured this was her way out. She stepped into the elevator and tried to pull the switch.

Nothing happened.

“Shit. Okay. How do I turn this on?”

Another screech was heard. Normani looked down the corridor. A burst of flames was seen too. “What? What the hell?”

On the wall to her right was a rusted clock. Normani assumed that it was one of those machines used to check and make sure the miners were going to work on time.

Normani saw a danger sign that warned of structural destruction. “Seriously? Fuckin’ busted elevator is my only way out.”

Luckily she didn’t have to turn back, there was a ladder just down the hallway. She grinned and raced up the ladder. Normani swung her leg over the ledge and then put her torch down. Of course the blasted thing was iced, so she lost balance and fell to a lower floor in complete darkness.

“No! Fuck,” Normani groaned. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She pressed the flashlight icon and used it to look around.

A pile of bloody skulls were right in front of her. She screamed and darted off into the opposite direction. “Gross, gross, gross! Ugh, disgusting!”

Using her phone to guide, she made her way through the tunnels and reached a broken fence.

“Zendaya…?” Normani peered through the wooden planks to try and see who was there. She kicked down the wooden fence and stepped through.

There was a large cavern in front of her with a rock wall and then a chest off to the side. Normani wondered if she could find some flashlights in the chest so she made her way over there. She opened the chest and found only an old photo. There was a man with curly hair and his wife and child. She turned it over.

_“Dearest Harry,_

_Hurry home safely._

_From your loving wife and daughter,_

_Molly and Louise_

_xx”_

“Poor lady, I bet this Harry boy never came back,” Normani remarked as she put the photo back. The only way up was for her to climb the rock wall. Normani wasn’t an athlete. She wasn’t an outdoorsy woman like Lauren, but she sure had a good grip on things. She grabbed the rocks and started climbing up them.

Normani reached a ladder at the top of the wall and used it to climb the rest of the rock. She grumbled as she nearly tripped on the last part and climbed up to the top floor.

“Zendaya!” Normani called out.

She started walking down the cavern again.

Her phone’s flashlight started blinking, signaling that it was going to die soon.

“Oh for fuck’s sake! No! Come on…” Normani tapped her phone screen repeatedly.

It was too late.

“Son of a bitch.”

Another wave of flames was seen at the end of the tunnel. “I don’t even know what’s going on here,” she breathed out. Normani saw a constant light. She realized it was her torch from before and managed to smile a bit. “Torch, good!”

There was also a switch for the power. Normani let out a sigh of relief. “Finally! Something that works!”

The lights flickered, turned on, and then died.

“Zendaya!” Normani tried calling her girlfriend’s name again.

Normani continued walking down the tunnels. The next cavern was notably brighter. She saw an icy slope that led out of the mines. “Oh fuck! Yes!” She started running up the slope hastily. It was too slippery. Normani slipped back and fell right on her ass. “Damn…” She looked over to the broken danger sign on the wall. “Danger is my middle fucking name,” she remarked.

She started walking to the cavern on the left. There was a photo on the barrel. Normani raised a brow and picked it up. It was a photo of Lauren and Vero showing off their new tattoos. She flipped it over.

_“03.18.13_

_When are you getting yours, Lucy? :) - Vero_

_Yeah. Come on, babe! I’ll go with you and get your face on my asscheek. ;) - Lauren”_

Normani sighed sadly. “Vero and Lauren… Such a dynamic duo.” She put the picture back down. “I’m so sorry this happened.”

Next to her were some wooden planks. She moved them over to reveal markings on the rocks. The date on there was 02.02.14, exactly a year ago. Normani saw ten tally marks.

“That’s exactly a year ago! But what does it mean?”

Hanging on the wall were two different necklaces. One was a cross necklace while the other was a locket.

The cross necklace was Lucy’s and the locket was Vero’s.

“They were down here… Oh, God,” Normani gasped. She moved the door blocking the exit and stepped into another cavern.

She saw something horrifying then. Sitting on a pink parka was a rotten, bruised head. Normani moved to take a closer look.

That head wasn’t just _any_ head. It was Lucy’s.

“Oh, fuck! Fuck. Shit. Fuck. No! Lucy…” Normani cried. She moved forward. The head rolled off of the jacket and landed on the ground. Normani screamed and stumbled backwards. “Oh… Lucy, I’m so sorry.”

There was a latched door on the other side of the cavern. Normani had to get out of there and fast.

Her foot accidentally kicked a totem. She leaned down and picked up the totem that had  red bees carved into it. Normani turned it over tentatively.

An arm was shown reaching out between the floorboards and trying to grab Dinah.

Normani shrugged and put the totem now. She opened the latched door and practically ran to the elevator.

She pulled the lever of the elevator and wiped her brow as the elevator shot up. “Thank God. I’m safe I’m-”

The elevator stopped before the surface.

“No!”

Normani climbed out of the elevator and made her way out. She stopped when she saw a strange man. This had to be the psycho.

She ran back and hid behind the elevator. “Please don’t see me… please don’t come this way.”

She waited for a few seconds. Once she was sure the psycho wasn’t looking her way, she darted off.

The strange man turned around. “Get back here!” Normani noticed that the man had a British accent.

Normani reached a bridge and jumped over two gaps. The psycho was right on her tail. If she wasn’t fast enough, she was sure to get caught. There was an oil puddle right in front of her. She could light it up and then the psycho could blow up. Normani threw the torch down on the puddle and ran off with the explosion behind her.

She reached a dead end.

“Oh, fuck!”

Normani had two options. She could run back or she could hide. If she ran back, there was an option to run into the creep. She chose to hide.

Normani slipped between two wooden boards and the wall and held her breath. But it was useless, the psycho with big, blue eyes spotted her. Normani’s eyes squeezed shut as she awaited for her inevitable death.

**03:14**

“A-Ashley, are you for real right now?” Camila sputtered.

Ashley continued to laugh uncharacteristically, and she flipped her blue hair to the side. She looked at Camila with pride gleaming in her gaze, and something else… something terrifying. Something was broken in those hazel eyes.

“Ashley…” Lauren said weakly. Camila noticed that she looked as pale as a ghost.

Dinah looked very unamused. “Ashley,” she spat.

“Oh, oh, very good! Every one of you! Got my name!” Ashley said gleefully. “And after all you’ve been through! Good, good, good, good. I mean, how does that _feel_?”

Camila felt her restraints being removed. Dinah was currently working on untying her. Lauren was doing the same to Ariana. Camila did her best to try and meet Lauren’s gaze, but it was downcasted. Poor girl… Lauren was a sensitive soul. She wouldn’t be able to take this lightly.

“Right? Right?” Ashley repeated. “How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked?” The blue haired girl cackled excitedly as she took a seat on the wooden table that Ariana and Camila were sitting by. “All those emotions that my roommates felt a year ago! Only guess what? They didn’t get to laugh it off. No! Nope! No, no, no! They’re gone.”

Dinah cleared her throat and gritted her teeth. “I don’t know if you noticed this, Ashley, but _none_ of us are laughing.” She gestured to Ariana. “Look at Grande, she nearly pissed herself!” Ariana whimpered and blushed in embarrassment. Dinah gestured to Camila. “Look at Mila, she looks like a kid that just got told that Santa isn’t real!” Camila bowed her head in response. Dinah then gestured to Lauren. “Ohhh, and Lauren, sweet and loving Lauren, I think she looks the worst of all of us. Ashley, what the _fuck_ is wrong with you?” Lauren wasn’t even looking in the direction of Ashley, she was staring at the wall and trembling violently. Dinah marched over and turned around. Camila gasped in horror. Her eyes were red, lip was quivering, and her whole expression screamed “I’m in shock”. “How could you do this to her, Ashley? She hasn’t done anything wrong. She’s just as-”

Ashley held her hand up to signal Dinah to stop talking. She slid off the table and made her way to Lauren. “Hi, Lolo, baby…” Lauren turned her head to look away from her. “Don’t be sad… you should be laughing! I just pulled the greatest prank of the century.” She cupped Lauren’s cheeks and forced Lauren to look at her. “You always told me I was _so_ smart. I could do _great_ things with the _beautiful_ brain that I had. And I did something great, oh yes! Not even those crazy mad scientists could even _think_ of doing what I did. I’m a genius, Lauren!” Camila watched Lauren tremble even more violently than she was before. Ashley brought her thumbs to Lauren’s lips and spread them so it looked like Lauren was smiling. “Come on, babe, smile! Smile for me… I know you want to-”

Ashley was cut off by a loud, hard slap to her face. She stumbled back and clutched her reddened cheek in shock. Lauren was holding her hand up, shooting daggers with her own gorgeous green eyes.

“You… you- you’re a monster, Ashley Nicolette Frangipane! You’re sick! You’re disgusting,” Lauren seethed. “I opened myself up to you. I let you see the parts of me that I didn’t want others to see. And you… oh, you took that for granted! You fucking bastard! How could I ever- HOW COULD I EVER-” she screamed the last part, trying to run at Ashley, to hurt her as bad as she had hurt Lauren, but Dinah grabbed her and held her back. She turned and thrashed, but Dinah had a strong grip.

“Lauren, Lauren, Lauren…” Ashley interrupted her, still clutching her cheek. “You keep forgetting the fact that you love me! Haha, yes! You said so yourself… admitted it right to me! Right to my face, and you didn’t even know it! Not only did I make Camriana real, I tied the bond of Ashren.” Lauren’s breath hitched. She looked so horrified and hate-filled. Camila never thought Lauren would ever look at Ashley like that. It mimicked the way that she looked at some of the world leaders that were downright cruel.

Lauren laughed bitterly. “Oh? No, no, no, you _lost_ the right for my love the moment you violated me. You took my clothes, my property! You chased me through the house and called me degrading names. You made me think you were _dead_. I already endured the pain of losing my long-time girlfriend that I was so fucking in love with… and then I thought I lost you! Jesus, Ashley, are you dense?” Lauren took a deep breath and pointed a shaky finger at Ashley. “I loved you.” Something in her green eyes broke, and a scream ripped from her throat, full of pain and anger. “I. LOVED. YOU!”

Ashley’s eyes widened. Camila expected her to start crying, but instead she started laughing again. “Oh, Lauren! We both know you’re a liar! Lying liar! Lying little Lauren! You can’t fall out of love that quickly.” Lauren burst out into tears and clutched onto Dinah. Dinah wrapped an arm protectively around the fragile girl. “For someone who looks for the truth in people, you sure do lie a lot! Lie, lie, lie! ‘Oh, Ashley, this doesn’t mean anything!’ or ‘Oh, Ashley, I’m still in love with Lucy! I can’t date you!’” Ashley looked a little affected by Lauren’s crying, but she still did a disgustingly good job of looking like a sociopath. Camila knew she wasn’t a sociopath. Ashley was capable of love. “I _love_ you. I’ve loved you this entire time. I’ve loved you since the seventh grade when we were paired up for that mousetrap car assignment and you got all stressed out because you didn’t know what we were doing! I continued to love you even when you asked Lucy to homecoming during freshman year! I continued to love you when you told me that you thought Lucy was your soulmate. I loved you so much I was willing to put my feelings aside and comfort you after Lucy disappeared. I let myself become your little fuck buddy when all I wanted to do was make you _mine_. I waited and I waited! But you didn’t give me a chance, Lauren…”

“Stop it, stop it!” Lauren cried out. “Don’t say this shit to me. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You’re sick, Ashley, I know you’re sick! But God, what you just did is unforgivable. I was scared to tell you how I was feeling. I can’t - I don’t-”

Ashley rolled her eyes. “You’re just like everyone else in my life, Lauren. I do _one_ thing a little wrong and then you play the victim!”

Lauren screamed and tried to run at Ashley at full speed. Dinah was quicker, though, and wrapped her arms around Lauren again. Lauren thrashed and cried, trying to free herself from Dinah’s strong grip. “Let go of me, Dinah! Let me go!” She kicked her legs while Dinah continued to squeeze the life out of her. “I’m gonna- Dinah, LET GO OF ME!”

Camila was frozen. It was like she was watching a horror movie. “Ashley, why-” Camila started to say. Ashley was snapped out of her Lauren-induced trance. Camila noticed a hint of guilt evident on her features. _Huh,_ she thought. _Even Lauren’s absolute heartbreak can only barely move the heartless_.

“Oh, come, come, come, come, come… why the long face, Camila?” Ashley drawled. “You of all people know how to take a joke! Why don’t you find this funny?”

Camila narrowed her eyes and frowned. There were a whole lot of reasons wrong with this joke. Camila could name about fifteen for Ariana and Lauren alone.

“Come on! It’s good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did, I mean, every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat! I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle!”

“Holy mother of-” Ariana shook her head in disbelief. “Did that just happen?”

Ashley giggled. “I mean, no detail too small! No opportunity missed! It was such a delight to play the puppet master to all of your Pavlovian panic!” She started pacing around the room and made flamboyant gestures as she continued her explanation. “And all that gore? I mean, gore, there was gore galore! Haha, that rhymed! Fake bodies… I mean, that shit was expensive. Hundreds of dollars well spent!” Ashley pulled on the strap of her costume and looked Camila dead in the eye. She was sickened by how jovial Ashley was. What the hell happened to her best friend? “And no retakes! Nope, nope, nope, only double takes! You should have seen your faces. Hook, line, and sinker, for every little stinker!”

“A-Ashley,” Lauren croaked. She had obviously calmed down a lot since her meltdown, but Dinah was still clutching onto her for dear life. “The fucked-up thing about all of this was it was obviously you. Your fingerprints were all over this.”

“Oh, really? Really, really, really, Laurencita? How do I know this isn’t some spooky little trick to make me feel worse, huh?” Ashley narrowed her eyes. “I already have some sort of pain for making you cry! Don’t you dare make it worse!”

Lauren shook her head and sniffled, deflated from her ranting. “You’re crying out for help, Ashley… come on, you wanted to get caught, didn’t you?”

“Oh, sure,” Ashley spat. “I’m totally just crying out for help. ‘Help me! Oh, help me! Help, help! I’m sick and I want you to help me, Lauren! Camila! Ariana! Dinah!’ Come on? Come on! It was just for fun. I mean, so you got a little egg on your face, right?”

“I just wanna know,” Ariana finally spoke up. “Why would you do this?”

“Don’t even ask the squirrelly little runt. She’s got no clue. She’s out of her fucking tree,” Dinah replied with evident annoyance.

“Well, she’s definitely off her meds,” Camila agreed.

Ashley shook her head and laughed softly. “Revenge is the best medicine!”

“Yeah? And now you’re done,” Dinah spat. “Congrats, Frangipane, you just won ‘Worst Friend of The Year’.”

“Dinah, she’s sick-” Camila protested.

“Come on, guys,” Ashley chuckled. “You guys are going to thank me once you become internet sensations!”

Camila’s face darkened. Her lips parted slightly. “Wait, what?”

“Oh, you better believe this puppy is going viral, ladies! I mean we got unrequited love and cute school girl crushes. We got… we got blood! I don’t think there’s enough hard drives in China to count all the views we’re gonna get, you guys!” Ashley pointed to the camera that was recording everything that was happening as they spoke. Camila’s breath hitched. Ashley totally lost it. She was definitely beyond saving at this point. “Hey, look at the bright side! Nobody got hurt-”

At that, Dinah shoved Lauren to the side and marched over to Ashley. “What are you talking about, you asshat!? Ally is fucking dead!”

Ashley bit her lip and furrowed her brows. She then burst out laughing. “Oh, come off it, Dinah! Of course she’s not! You were just fucking her in my guest cabin.”

Dinah pulled the gun out of her pocket and aimed it Ashley. “Did you hear me? Ally is dead, and you are going to fucking pay, you dick!” At the word “dick” Dinah swung her gun and hit Ashley hard on the head. Ashley crumbled to the floor.

“What did you do!?” Lauren screamed as she ran over to Ashley’s side. “What… the fuck!? Dinah Jane! Did you just kill her?”

Dinah shook her head violently. “What? No! I was hoping to knock some fucking sense in that head of hers.”

“Oh, God…” Ariana whined.

Camila got out of her chair and knelt beside Lauren. “She’s going to be fine. I think she’s just out cold.”

Dinah shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Kind of wish she ended up dead…”

“What are we going to do?” Lauren hissed as Ariana got up and moved to stand over them. “We can’t just leave Ash here.”

“We’re going to tie her up, give her a taste of her own medicine,” Dinah said. “She’ll be out of harm’s way and she won’t be able to harm us anymore.”

Lauren winced. “I don’t know if I like the sound of that. I’m sorry…” She looked at Ashley. “You fucked up major time, but you’re right about me being a liar. You’re a twisted freak, but I still…” Her face contorted, and she choked out, “I l-lo-love y-you, Ashl-ley.” Lauren burst out into tears again. Camila wrapped her arms comfortingly around Lauren.

“Shh, baby, don’t cry,” Camila whispered into Lauren’s hair. “It’s okay. I’m here. We’re all here for you.”

Lauren sniffled. “Camz, I was _so_ mean to her-”

“You have every right to be mad, okay?” Camila assured her. “Hell, even I’m fucking pissed at her.”

Lauren nuzzled her head into Camila’s neck. “You’re such a good friend. I’m so glad you’re in my life…”

Camila looked over at Dinah. She was in the middle of sitting Ashley up and tying her hands with a rope. “Alright, I’m just about done. Camila? You’re going to come with me. Ariana? You make sure Lauren is okay.”

“B-But I’m just as shaken up,” Ariana protested. “I’m in no shape to-”

Dinah snorted. “Listen, primadonna, I know you’re scared and freaked out. But at least your girl is safe and sane… Lauren here probably just went through more than enough stress for her. You’re going to shut up, and you’re going to listen.”

“Dinah,” Camila warned. “Don’t be mean.”

Dinah looked over at Camila and lifted Ashley up. “In case you haven’t noticed, this fucking idiot killed my girlfriend, so excuse me for being a wee bit pissed.”

“Camz,” Lauren mumbled as she clutched Camila’s arm. “Promise me you won’t hurt her? She needs help. If you hit her or anything, it won’t do you any good. Make sure that Dinah doesn’t do the same.”

Camila nodded slowly. “I’ll do my best, Lo.”

**03:41**

While Lauren and Ariana went off somewhere in the lodge, Dinah and Camila dragged an unconscious Ashley out of the building.

On the way to the shed, Ashley woke up suddenly.

“Wha-?” Ashley groaned. “Where are you taking me?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Dinah retorted. “Just shut the fuck up.”

“Guys, come on! Seriously, this is crazy, you know?”

Suddenly, Camila remembered something. Ashley _hit_ Ariana. She gave her a black-eye. She gritted her teeth and surged forward. “Why did you hit her, dude? Why did you have to fucking hit her?”

Camila punched Ashley in the face. Ashley howled in pain. She kicked her leg harshly for good measure. She had a stronger lower body anyways. Ashley tried to reach out and clutch her leg but then whimpered when she couldn’t.

“W-What are you talking about? Who did I hit?” Ashley said in a daze.

“You punched Ariana, you piece of shit!” Camila yelled.

Ashley’s jaw dropped. “Oh, man… I got so mad.”

“Y-You don’t hit your best friend’s girl. You just don’t.”

“Mila… Mila, Camila… babe, I-”

“I’m not your babe!” Camila growled angrily.

Ashley pouted and looked around. “Where are we going? Where are you guys taking me?”

“Locking you up, _babe_ ,” Dinah replied sarcastically. Ashley looked at Dinah in complete surprise. “So you can’t say anything stupid before we call the police in the morning.”

“Oh, come on!” Ashley whined. “I didn’t do anything-”

Camila rolled her eyes. “Are you fucking serious, Ash?”

“You’re a goddamned murderer is what you are,” Dinah said shortly.

“I didn’t do it!” Ashley protested as she tried to fight the restraints. “Dinah, please! Just listen to me, man! I did not hurt Ally-”

“Are you insane!?” Camila questioned her angrily. “Like, really, do you not understand what you’ve done?”

“I’m a healer,” she argued. “I bring people together. Not like you, assholes.”

“Alright, alright,” Dinah growled. “That’s enough.”

“You only see what you want to see!” Ashley shouted. “You’re blind. B-l-i-n-d!”

Dinah shoved Ashley roughly. “Can you please stop talking? It’ll make this a whole lot easier.”

“It’s not my fault you suckers can’t take a joke.”

“Oh, wait…” Dinah spat. “Did I hurt you? Did you feel just a little bit of pain? Right now, I am so sorry! So, so, so, sorry!”

Ashley screamed out loudly and started thrashing. “Someone help me! These two idiots are going to try and kill me!”

“Jesus, dude…” Camila groaned.

“Stop… Dinah… I’m so sorry. I can’t tell how sorry I am because something happened to Ally, but I swear, I swear to you that I have no idea what happened to her,” Ashley pleaded.

“Shit.” Camila looked over at Dinah. “Dinah, something feels wrong here.”

Dinah laughed mirthlessly. “Are you joking?”

Camila shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just having a real hard time figuring out why she would do anything to, like, hurt Ally.”

“I saw what she did to her,” Dinah growled. She gestured to her green army jacket. There were still some blood stains on there. “With my own eyes. This is her blood.”

Dinah pushed open the door to the shed and pulled Ashley in. Camila closed the door behind them.

“Can’t we all just get along?” Ashley accidentally hit her head on something that was sticking out from the shelves of the shed and cried in pain.

“We’re not dicking around,” Dinah spat.

“It’s not right,” she protested. “This is not how it’s supposed to go down. You’re just a bunch of bullies! You can’t just hang a girl out to dry like this, guys- not like… not like you have the guts to really do anything about it anyways!”

Camila scoffed, “Oh, stuff it. You’re the biggest coward there is!”

Ashley rolled her eyes and made a sound that was a cross between a whine and a groan. “Uh huh? I did something! I made you believe in the world I created and I showed you parts of yourself you were afraid to visit.”

“You manipulated us, you tricked us,” Camila said defensively. “You hurt your friends and the girl you love, you did it all while you hid in the shadows. You’re a coward, Ashley, that’s all you are.”

Dinah forcefully shoved Ashley back into a stool near a pole. She sat her down and moved to work on the ropes.

“Okay, okay… tying me up now? Okay!”

“Stay still, bitch,” Dinah warned.

Ashley giggled like a little girl. “Right, right, right, right! You’re right, Dinah! You can’t tie them up if they wiggle around! Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle…”

The blue haired girl started wiggling and shaking like crazy. Her shoulder hit Dinah in the face, and she swore loudly.

“Ash, come on…” Camila grumbled.

“Leave me a little wiggle room, huh? Who doesn’t wanna see Ashley wiggle around?” Ashley swayed back and forth like a worm on a hot sidewalk. “Wiggle, wiggle! Come and see the wiggling Ashley!”

“What the fuck does it take for you to shut up?” Dinah growled.

She pulled on the ropes, causing Ashley to screech. “Ow! Not so tight, okay? Not so tight, okay! I can’t wiggle around. Plastic ties. That’s where it’s at. Yep!”

Dinah rolled her eyes. “What in God’s name is she talking about?”

“Plastic ties, plastic ties,” Ashley muttered. “Way more effective for hostage-type scenarios!”

Camila bit her lip and crossed her arms. She was slowly watching her best friend descend into insanity. It was so painful. “This is hard to watch…”

“She ever say this kind of shit before?” Dinah inquired agitatedly as she pulled on Ashley’s ropes to tie them tighter.

“Guaranteed for at least three hostages, or your money back! Step right up! Step right up!” Ashley continued her nonsense.

Camila frowned. “I’ve… never seen her like this…”

“Everyone is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid… Camila and Ariana. Camila is an ass. Ariana’s a dumb-dumb.”

“I’m sorry,” Camila said. “What did you just say?”

“I said you’re an ass, ass,” she clarified. Ashley started giggling again. “Ohhh, Ariana… ‘I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you like me…!’”

Camila’s breath hitched. “S-Stop.”

Ashley started banging her foot loudly on the ground. Dinah moved her hand to stop her from doing so. “You know what that sound is? It’s the sound of never kissing Ariana, you pussy!”

“Stop!” Camila warned.

“Yeah, you know? You might as well let Ariana sleep with Dinah, I mean, at least she’s got some notches in her belt, you know? She’ll treat her right! But you? Oh, God, not you. You’re fucking pathetic, Karla.”

She had enough. Fuck Ashley and her stupid taunting. Camila picked up a wooden board from the floor and held it up, preparing to hit Ashley harshly. “I’m gonna beat her head off-”

Dinah rushed out from behind Camila and placed her hand out. “Don’t.” She shook her head. “Don’t listen to her. It’s not worth it.”

“Oh… Dinah! Dinah, Dinah, Dinah, Dinah, Dinah, Dinah!” Ashley sang out.

“The fuck you want, nutbrain?” Dinah grumbled.

Ashley smiled wickedly. “What happened with Ally, Dinah?”

“You know what happened.”

“But here’s the thing…” Ashley’s wicked smile grew immensely. “I got a problem. I got a _real_ serious problem. I don’t remember killing Ally!”

Dinah sighed agitatedly. “Christ…”

“I mean I feel like I would remember killing her, you know?” she continued. “She’s so soft… and she’s probably got, like, a really tight body…” Ashley started giggling. “I bet she oils it… preserves it… masturbates it… Ally, the holy little girl with the holy little body!”

Dinah pulled her gun out and pointed it at Ashley. “Shut your fucking mouth!”

Camila had enough. She swung the board and hit Dinah on the head. “Bitch!” Dinah let out a groan and dropped her gun. She rubbed her head and glared at Camila. “Seriously!?”

“Oh, Dinah, I’m-”

Dinah groaned and picked up the gun from the ground. “Did you think I was gonna shoot her?” Camila shrugged her shoulders timidly. “Come on, Walz, you know me better than that.”

“Yeah, Mila!” Ashley barked. “You know me better than that,” she mimicked Dinah.

Camila glared at Ashley before she turned to look back at Dinah. “Next time, give me a heads up, okay?”

“Oh, you poor little piggies!” Ashley taunted. “Can’t even get your good-cop-bad-cop routine to work! Leave it to the pros, bros.”

“Why don’t you head back to the lodge?” Dinah suggested. “I’ll stay here with the lunatic until morning.”

“Ooh! Sleepover! C-Can we order pizza? Oh, Dinah, please! Please!”

“Right, I should check on Lauren. Ari might need some backup.” Camila said.

“Lauren…” Ashley’s head popped up, and she looked hopeful, her expression changing rapidly. “Lauren, Lauren! Where’s the love of my life? Is she worried about me? Does my sweet baby know that you’re keeping me captive? Oh, if she doesn’t, she’ll hate you! She’ll come save me. My princess, my queen, my lady knight in shining armor. She’ll sweep me off my feet and take me far away!” Ashley smiled dreamily. “I love my lovely, loving Lauren. Does she know that? She knows that, right?”

Camila sighed. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Totally. Walz, they’ll want to know that everything is fine back there,” Dinah replied.

“But everything isn’t fine!” Ashley wailed. “My Lauren! Laurencita, Laurenza, Lolo! My Lauren hates me! She doesn’t love me anymore!” She sobbed loudly and tried to rock back and forth, but she was tied too tightly. “All because of you guys! Oh, Lauren, Lauren, Lauren… I love you…”

“Right, see you in the morning,” Camila said in farewell and dropped the board on the ground.

“Mila, Mila! Wait...! Tell my Lauren that I say hello! Tell her I love her!”

Camila opened the door and turned her head to look back at Ashley. It was hard not to feel bad for the pitiful, tear-stained, blue-haired girl, full of wildness and insanity and heartbreak, but when Camila thought of Ari’s terrified face, she managed to forget for a good moment. “I think you’re the last person she wants to see right now.”


	9. Chapter Eight: Revelation

**THREE HOURS UNTIL DAWN**

**04:01**

Normani screamed when the strange man grabbed her hand. “Argh!”

“Shhhh,” he whispered. “Quiet!”

“Stay the fuck away from me!”

A screeching noise was heard from behind the creepy man. He turned around and grunted, letting go of Normani’s hand. The man pulled his bag off of his left shoulder and threw it to Normani.

She caught the bag and stared at the man warily. That bag better not have a bomb in it or Normani would pitch a fit.

“Use these… and get the hell out of here, now!”

Normani crawled backwards and ended up falling down a ledge. She yelped in pain, and she heard the strange man also cry out.

She landed on her back and gasped. The flare bag landed on her stomach with a thud. Normani groaned and forced the satchel off of her. “Oh, shit! Shit!”

Normani got up on her feet. She still didn’t have any light source. She used that damn torch with her six hundred dollar top to light a whole bunch of oil for nothing. Normani reached into the bag and lit one of the flares.

“Yeah! Nice one, Mani,” she said to herself. “Okay, let’s go.”

On the wall of a wooden structure was a postcard from Calgary. Normani brought the flare up so she could see better.

There was a note addressed to that Harry dude.

_Hey, Harry,_

_I had a great time._

_Look me up if you're ever in Calgary!_

_Rebecca_

_xxx_

“Oof,” Normani gasped. “I guess he called Becky with the good hair. Poor Molly!”

She followed the mine tracks for a bit until she came across a totem. This one had a woodpecker with white accents carved into it. Normani knelt down and rolled it over.

Dinah was shown holding up a gun and shaking violently before setting her gun back down.

Normani furrowed her brow and got back up.

Walking through the mines was a living nightmare, she couldn’t shake off the look on the creep’s face when she saw him. The psycho was scared. But why did he try to save her? Normani figured it was because of her good looks. Something else didn’t feel right about it, though.

At the end of the hallway were two large rocks with a tiny gap in between it. Normani squeezed through the gap of the rocks and worked to reach the other side. “Okay, this is gonna be the way.” She started shimmying through the gap.

A monstrous hand burst out of the wood boards and attempted to grab Normani, but missed. “Shit! Shit!” Normani screamed and burst off into a sprint. The monstrous hand tried to grab her again but she slid under it just in time. “Oh, fuck! Fuck. Fuck!”

Normani reached a bridge with a gap. She jumped over the first gap, nearly slipping to the abyss below, but caught herself in time. Normani jumped over the next gap with ease.

She ran further away and briefly looked behind her. Normani saw the monster. It was sickly and grotesque looking, skinny, gray, and bony. Normani felt like she was going to puke.

There was a fork in the road. The sign for the elevator pointed to the left. Normani quickly ran to the left. She reached the elevator and pulled the lever.

“Come on! Breathe in… breathe out…”

The elevator jolted and shook.

“Oh, God! Oh, God! Help me!” Normani trembled in fear. “Okay, okay, snap out of it, Mani.”

The elevator stopped suddenly.

“Shit!” Normani ran out of the elevator and tossed her flare to the side. “Okay…” The monster was right behind her.

Normani pulled the chain near her. She smiled in satisfaction as a big bunch of rocks fell behind her. She then tipped a barrel behind, hoping it would help. Normani turned her head and noticed that the barrel started leaking oil. Swiftly, she lit another flare and threw it on the fire.

A loud fwoosh was enough to give her enough confidence to jump down from where she was. She pulled a lever to start the conveyor belt. In front of her was an ore grinder. If Normani were to stay on this, she’d probably end up in little tiny pieces.

“Fuck this,” Normani mumbled and leaped to an inactive conveyor belt. She reached the end of the inactive conveyor belt and turned her head to look behind her. Normani took a deep breath and ran into a wooden building.

She ran through a door and slammed it shut.

“Ah! Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please, please, please!” Normani whimpered and locked the door.

She let out a sigh of relief, thinking that she escaped the monster.

Normani was proven wrong. Its monstrous head burst through the door and sunk its teeth into Normani’s shoulder. She howled in pain and pushed herself away from the creature. There was a powerline at the end of the building.

She noticed an apparatus and grabbed it so she could zipline the hell out of there. The apparatus broke at impact at the end of the powerline and she fell to the snowy ground below.

Normani groaned and stood up slowly. She shook her right arm slowly. “Please don’t tell me this is fucking infected…” Normani whispered.

A loud screech was heard behind her.

Normani screamed and ran far, far away from there.

It was all a blur. She ran at full speed in the direction of the lodge, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Normani could have sworn she heard Dinah say “Oh, crap, what now?”, but she ignored it. Dinah was off fucking Ally. There was no way that she was here.

She reached the front door of the lodge and started banging loudly. “Let me in! Let me in! Please-”

“Is that-?” Ariana asked in a hushed voice.

“It’s Mani!” Lauren cried in relief.

“Let her in! Quick,” Camila ordered.

The three of them ran to the front of the room. Normani was more than happy to see the three girls there. Camila swung the door open and Normani tripped on the threshold, falling flat on her face.

“Shut the door!” Normani screamed. “Shut the fucking door!”

Ariana and Lauren grabbed each of her arms and dragged her inside to the Great Room and then helped her up. Camila slammed the door behind her and joined the three of them in the room.

“Mani, are you alright?” Camila asked tentatively.

“I-I didn’t think I’d make it,” Normani admitted while shaking her head.

Camila nodded. “You were screaming bloody murder.”

“Are you okay?” Lauren reached out and grabbed Normani’s hand, giving it a good squeeze.

“You look totally wiped,” Ariana remarked.

Normani whimpered. “T-There was something-”

“Where’s Zendaya?” Ariana cut in.

Lauren wrapped her arm around Normani’s waist. “Cool it with the questions, Ari, let’s just get her settled in. Come on, Mani, let’s sit down.” Lauren led her to the couch and patted the seat next to her. Normani smiled at her thankfully and sat down in the spot Lauren pointed out. She sunk back into the cushions. Lauren joined her on the couch with her arm still around her.

“There’s something out there,” Normani said slowly. “It tried to kill me.”

**04:23**

“Did you guys split up?” Ariana probed, taking the seat nearest to Normani.

“A monster! It’s a monster,” Normani yelped.

Camila furrowed her brows. Normani wasn’t around when Ashley revealed herself so she still thought the psycho was out there chasing them. It was totally understandable that she seemed paranoid and confused.

“Are you okay?” Camila looked at Normani worriedly.

“I’m fine,” Normani assured her. “I need to calm down. It was just so damn fast!”

“What?”

Normani took a deep breath. “I just had to get away!”

“Away?” Lauren piped in. “Away from what?”

Normani leaned into Lauren and sighed. “Th-There was this thing, whatever it was-!”

Lauren pursed her lips. “Mani, Mani… Ashley was messing with us. She was the psycho all along.” She paused when she saw the totally horrified look on Normani’s features. “I know, it’s so fucked up-”

“No,” Normani interrupted her. “You’re _not_ listening to me. You don’t understand!”

“Wait, Mani.” Camila tried to get her attention. “Where’s Zendaya?”

“Zendaya… Oh, no! We couldn’t use the cable car so we climbed the tower and then it fell and we were down in the mine, like way down, down in this terrifying freaking mine shaft,” Normani rambled.

“Hold up, hold on…” Camila scratched her head.

But Normani just kept powering through, like she had nothing to lose. “And then, it was Z and me down there…” Norman’s breath hitched and she looked between Lauren and Ariana. Both of them were continuing to comfort her. Ariana was rubbing her back while Lauren was playing with Normani’s fingers. “I think that Zendaya might be dead.”

Camila gasped in horror. Big, intimidating, scary Zendaya… dead? That was just unrealistic. “Wait, what?”

“H-How?” Lauren added on.

“I… I was walking down there, in the mines, and it was dark and I found this pile and there was Lucy’s head!”

Camila’s eyes widened. “Wait, what!?”

“L-Lucy’s head, I found it,” Normani reiterated.

“Oh my God!” Ariana gasped.

“What the fuck?” Camila frowned.

“A-Are you serious!?” Lauren stammered.

“Yes, I’m fucking serious!” Normani said in horror.

Camila’s gaze immediately moved to Lauren. She already tore herself away from Normani. “No, no, no! This isn’t fair! Fuck!’ Lauren started screaming and thrashing, tugging on her dark locks. “First Ashley being psychotic, to t-this… I can’t take this anymore!” Camila ran over to wrap her arms around Lauren again. “I always assumed the worst when it came to her. A part of me accepted that she died. But there was still another hopeful part that thought Lucy was still alive… and now that it’s confirmed…” Lauren burst into tears. “Why do I always fall for the ones that end up screwing me over? I’m-I’m… I deserve better!” Camila moved her hand up to wipe Lauren’s eyes. She smiled at Camila thankfully. “I’ve always been so nice and caring. I was a good girlfriend! I was good to Luce and Ash…” Her face fell. “Well, I would’ve been good to Ash. She probably hates me now… I slapped her and told her I didn’t love her. I lied.”

Camila bit down her lip to prevent herself from smiling. Even in such a fucked up situation, Ashley and Lauren were still crazy in love with each other. “Lo, I told you what she said in the shed, right?”

“Yeah… but she also said that shit about Ariana and Ally. I don’t know what to believe,” Lauren brushed her off.

“If you’re going to believe one thing coming out from her nonsense, believe that,” Camila assured her.

Normani cleared her throat. “Okay, can we get to something more important a.k.a me and my adventures?”

Camila and Lauren broke from their hug and looked at her expectantly.

“I think they fell down there,” Normani said.

“Jesus Christ,” Camila groaned.

Normani nodded grimly. “The worst part is I don’t think Vero died, like, from the fall, not right away…”

“What!?” Ariana’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know… I feel like she was down there, like, starving to death for weeks… when we were up here looking for her… we had no idea!”

Camila frowned and bowed her head. “Jesus, that’s horrible.”

“Listen,” Normani continued. “In the tower there was a radio. I got through to someone, but that was right when the tower collapsed!”

The front door swung open. In came Dinah looking as stressed as ever. “Guys! I heard Normani screaming. I tried to look for her, but she was nowhere nearby… Mani could still be alive!” She made her way into the Great Room. Her eyes widened when her gaze met Normani’s. “Mani! You made it!”

“Oh, god,” Normani said in relief and jumped off the couch. She ran over to her and wrapped her arms around her. “Dinah… I’m so happy to see you.”

Dinah hugged her back and squeezed her tightly. “Me, too. I thought you died.”

“She barely made it,” Camila said.

Dinah stroked Normani’s hair as the girl nestled into her. “And what about Zendaya? Did she make it?”

“We’re trying to figure that out…” Ariana trailed off.

Camila nodded. “And there was that ‘monster’ that was chasing her.”

Normani burst into tears and buried her head in Dinah’s shoulder. Dinah continued to comfort her. “She’s all messed up, guys. Hey, Mani? Normani? It’s gonna be okay.”

A bang was heard from the backdoor of the lodge.

“Woah,” Camila mumbled in shock.

Dinah narrowed her eyes and clutched Normani close to her. “Who the fuck could that be?”

“Ashley?” Ariana suggested.

“Ally?” Camila also suggested.

The Polynesian chuckled darkly. “It’s not Ally.”

“Sorry, man… but who is it?”

“Dunno.” Dinah shrugged and let go of Normani. She looked a little lost but she stumbled back over to Lauren. “We should check it out.”

Camila nodded bravely. “I got your back.”

“Good.”

Dinah and Camila made their way to the back door. Dinah pulled out her gun again and pointed it at the back door in precaution. “Cover me,” she ordered Camila. Camila nodded and leaned against the wall near the door.

Camila waited a few seconds. “I’m gonna open the door. Y’all ready for this?”

Dinah rolled her eyes. “Walz, just open the damn door. They’re probably gone by now.”

“I could take the gun?” Camila suggested.

“Fat chance,” Dinah laughed. “Just open the door.”

Camila opened the door. At the exact same time, the strange man kicked the door down. Camila clumsily fell to the ground in pain. “Ouch! My knees!”

“Ah. Hold on there, bud! Hold it right there, mister,” Dinah warned shakily.

The strange man snatched the gun out of Dinah’s hand and threw it to the ground.

“Freeze… ah! Damn, okay! Just take it easy there, grandpa.”

“Everyone calm down, please,” the man said. Camila was quite amused to find that his accent was British.

Camila and Dinah both backed away from the strange man. Ariana clasped onto her arm and pulled her near her while Normani did the same to Dinah. Lauren just stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed.

“Let me say what I came here to say,” he grunted. He pulled off his mask to reveal his scarred face and bright orange face. “I’m here to tell you what you’re up against being back on the mountain. You should have never returned. I don’t know why you did after what happened last year.” He threw his bag near the fireplace.

“You mean with Vero and Lucy?” Ariana asked for clarification.

“Yeeeah,” Camila drawled. “How could you know without being involved?”

Lauren scowled. “Or responsible,” she spat.

“You hold onto your horses. I don’t take kindly to you kids coming up here to my mountain-”

“ _Your_ mountain?” Dinah repeated. “I’m sure the Frangipanes would be _very_ surprised to hear that.”

The strange man laughed mirthlessly. “Heh. Well this mountain doesn’t belong to me, it’s true. But it certainly doesn’t belong to the Frangipanes. This mountain belongs to the Wendigo.”

“The… window?” Camila raised a brow. “Who?”

“What’s he talking about?” Lauren had a puzzled expression.

“What the hell is a Wendigo?” Dinah questioned warily.

Lauren shrugged at Dinah. “Let’s hear him out.”

“Not like we have a choice,” she grumbled.

“Now, I’m only going to tell you this once,” the strange man continued. “It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. I have reasons I want to… get it off my chest.”

“I knew it! I fucking knew it!” Dinah interjected. “He’s guilty! He’s guilty as shit! Guilty of something!”

“Shh,” Lauren shushed her. “Shut up, Dinah.”

The strange man crossed his arms over his chest. “There is a curse that dwells in these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism in these woods the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed.”

“Oh… crap.” Dinah gasped. “Ally. I was an idiot. Why didn’t I figure this out sooner?”

“You’re going to need somewhere safe,” the strange man ordered.

Lauren hummed, seemingly thinking of a good answer for him. “The basement might be okay…”

The man nodded. “Excellent. Get down there, now. All of you. And wait.”

“What? Why? For how long?” Lauren’s questions tumbled out of her at a quick speed.

“Until dawn,” Normani said darkly.

Dinah ran a hand through her hair. “Guys, I ran off and left Ashley when I heard screaming.”

“Where did you leave her?” The strange man looked at her expectantly.

“In the shed…”

“Your friend will already be dead.”

Camila’s eyes bugged out as Lauren gasped in horror. “No… no, she can’t be! We were just with her!”

The man shrugged. “A lot can happen quickly on this mountain.”

She gritted her teeth. Camila treated Ashley like total crap in the shed. The least she could do was do her this one solid. Ashley may be sick in the head, but she didn’t deserve her fate to be decided by a bunch of creepy Wendigos. As her best friend, it was Camila’s duty to protect her until the end.

“No. I’m going to go get her,” Camila decided with a determined look.

Ariana’s mouth floundered. “What? You can’t go out there, Camila!”

“I’m supposed to be her best friend,” Camila replied, trying her best to ignore how upset Ariana looked. “I let her down.”

“No,” Ariana protested. “She let you down. She let us _all_ down.”

“I don’t care! I’m going after her!”

The man took a step forward. “Then I’ll go with you.”

Camila narrowed her eyes. “No,” she shot back. “I don’t need your help.”

“Going alone is suicide-”

“She won’t be alone,” Lauren interrupted him. “I’m going to come with her.”

Dinah’s eyes widened and she moved over to Lauren. She grasped her shoulder. “What? No! Not you too!” She frowned and bit her lip. “I- We can’t lose you, Lauren.”

Lauren shook her head. “I have to go after her. Ashley needs me. If I can do one thing right, let me make sure Ashley is okay and can get home safely. She doesn’t need the police… she needs psychiatric help and someone to look after her. If that person’s me? I’ll accept that role with pride.”

Camila grinned widely at Lauren. “See? That’s determination right there. We can totally do this.”

“The rest of you - get down to the basement. Be safe. Don’t go outside until we get back,” the man ordered. Only Normani moved to go down towards the basement. Dinah and Ariana were both standing there with their arms crossed.

The strange man looked back over at Camila and Lauren. “Listen, girls, I don’t think you understand the magnitude of the situation.”

“Well,” Lauren said. “We’re going to get Ashley, aren’t we?”

“No. _I’m_ going to get Ashley. You two are going to help me,” the man corrected her. “Do you understand?”

“Uh… yeah, I think so.” Camila bit her lip and looked over at Lauren. “Lo?” She nodded her head.

The strange man gestured to the kitchen. “Follow me, and do everything I tell you.”

The three of them walked to the side exit of the lodge. The strange man pulled a shotgun and handed it to Camila. Camila grinned and admired the weapon in her hands. “This is the end you point towards the thing you want to kill.”

Camila scowled. “Hey! I know how to use a shotgun.”  
“No, you don’t,” Lauren and the strange man said at the exact same time. Lauren, she understood, because she saw her practice at the shooting range hours ago. But the stranger? He had no excuse.

Camila clutched the shotgun close to her. “How do you know!?”

“Trust me,” the strange man spat. “I know.”

“Do I get a weapon?” Lauren asked.

Dinah came running towards the kitchen. “Hey, Ralph! Take my revolver!” She tossed it to Lauren. Lauren caught it with ease and bit her lip. Dinah grinned at her. “Don’t worry. It’s easy, just point and pull the trigger!”

Ariana came up next to Camila. She smiled at Camila shyly and took a few steps forward. Camila found herself blushing because of Ariana. “Hey, come back safe… okay?” Ariana cupped Camila’s cheek and brought their lips together. Her eyes widened in shock. Kissing Ariana was just as good as she imagined, if not better. Ariana’s lips were so soft and delicate. It was like kissing a puppy. Yikes, that description was weird. Needless to say, Camila liked it a lot. She deepened the kiss, drawing her closer, and sucked on her lower lip, squeezing her eyes shut.

After a few more moments of kissing, Ariana pulled away with a big smile and rosy cheeks. Camila smiled back at her. She turned to Lauren, who was beaming adoringly at them. Dinah hooted and hollered.

“Aww,” Lauren cooed. “Too bad I don’t get a good luck kiss.”

“That can be easily arranged!” Dinah said eagerly as she bounded forward, puckering her lips. “C’mon, Lauser, don’t you wanna kiss the hottest chick on the mountain?”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “I can’t kiss myself, can I?”

Dinah scowled and kissed Lauren’s cheek. “That’s all you get for being a rude bitch, soldier.”

Lauren saluted and smirked. “I’ll take what I can get.”

The strange man pushed open the door and escorted Lauren and Camila out. Ariana closed the door behind them.

The three of them walked through the snow at a quick pace towards the shed.

“So,” Camila said, breaking the ice. “You’re the expert on these _things._ What’s a… gal gotta know?”

“You two just be careful,” he replied. “Follow my lead.”

“How many times do I gotta shoot them with my shotgun before it’s dead?” Camila inquired.

He laughed darkly. “You’d be shooting for a very long time.”

“You mean…” Lauren paused and started shaking Dinah’s revolver. “These things won’t kill it?”

“No, but it’ll slow it down.”

Camila frowned. That did not sound very good. “Then what _does_ kill it?”

“They don’t like fire,” he said. “They fear it, and it can kill them if you have to… Their skin is like tough armor unless you burn it off first.”

“Gross!” Camila fake-gagged. “What are these things like? I mean, are they just crazy unpredictable or can you figure out what they’re gonna do?”

He nodded. “They have some patterns. Similar to an animal… or human.” Camila looked at him to elaborate. “They only hunt at night.”

“Oh. Why?” Camila probed.

“Dunno, didn’t ask,” he deadpanned.

Lauren hummed in response. “So, is there any way to get them to not attack you? Are they like vampires and hate garlic?”

“Well… they can’t see if you’re standing still. They’re like toads. Their sight is based on changes of movements in their field of vision.”

Camila furrowed her brows. “So, if I don’t move… I’m basically invincible?”

“Don’t test it out,” he warned.

“They have to have some humanity in them, right?” Lauren questioned. “I mean, they _were_ human. I’m only dabbling into psychology and the human nature, but I’m pretty sure it takes a hell of a lot to get rid of someone’s humanity.”

“They retain certain things,” the man answered her.

“But is it right to kill them?” Lauren continued. “Maybe they can be cured or-”

He shook his head. “It’s a lost cause. They surrender their human rights the moment they eat one another. There’s no cure. There’s no redemption.”

“If they’re still human, I don’t know if it’s right to hurt them,” Camila said.

“When you’re staring one of them in the face… it’s either them, or you. Feel free to take the high road, you won’t be on it for long.”

“Hydroxide,” Camila breathed out.

The strange man opened the door to the shed. Lauren quickly rushed inside. “Ashley? Ashley!” Lauren yelled. She choked on her breath when she looked at the place where Ashley previously was. Camila squeezed inside the shed and looked for herself. Sure enough, Ashley’s stool was empty and broken. The ropes were even severed too.  
“No!” Lauren cried. “We’re too late! Ash, I’m s-so sorry!”

“Shh!” He held his hand up to cover Lauren’s mouth. She sobbed into his glove. “We have to go. Right now.”

“But-” Camila blurted out. “We gotta find Ashley - she could still be out there!”

The man snorted and shook his head. “Ha! First, the Wendigo, he’ll render you immobile. And then he strips the skin off of your entire body, piece by piece. And then he keeps you alive and aware and feasts on your organs, one piece at a time.”

“So… the lodge, then?”

“Let’s go now.” He released Lauren. The green-eyed girl looked shaken up, but was still surprisingly calm. Lauren already cried enough that night, Camila guessed. “It might still be near.”

The two girls followed the strange man out of the shed. A loud screech was heard. The two of them looked at each other in shock.

“Shh…” The man held his hand up. “Don’t move.”

They stayed still for a few seconds.

“Run! Go, now! Move!” The stranger urged.

Lauren grabbed Camila’s hand and the two of them darted away from the shed. The strange man shot his flamethrower at the Wendigo.

“Back! Back!” he screamed.

“Goddamn!” Camila yelled as Lauren pulled her away.

“We’re right out in the open! We gotta get out of here-” He was cut off by the Wendigo lunging forward and swiping its long-ass claws at his neck.

“Oh my god, oh my god!” Camila covered her mouth.

“Camz, don’t look..”

The man’s body fell to the ground. His decapitated head rolled away from them and stopped with its face facing them. His face looked shocked and horrified. Camila was sure that it mimicked how she looked right now.

“Camz, the Wendigo!”

The Wendigo was flying towards her. Camila lifted her shotgun and fired at the gas tank of the man’s flamethrower. A small explosion occurred.

Camila and Lauren took off in the direction of the lodge. Camila didn’t see the giant-ass log overhead and she hit her head and slipped, falling to the ground below. The Wendigo screeched loudly.

A gunshot was heard. Camila got back up on her feet and saw that Lauren was aiming her gun in the direction of the Wendigo.

Camila and Lauren started running again. They jumped down the ledge. Camila landed hard on her foot. She could have sworn she heard a crack. “Fuck!”

Lauren helped her up. “C’mon…” she urged. “We gotta go.”

Camila turned around and shot the advancing Wendigo with her shotgun.

She was limping hard, but they were very close to the lodge. Lauren covered her as Camila went as fast as she could to the lodge.

They reached the rear door of the lodge. Ariana was standing there awaiting them.

“Oh, thank God! Ari, please! Let us in, quick!” Camila pleaded.

Ariana opened the door and ushered for Lauren and Camila to get inside. They ran in and Ariana closed the door behind them.

“Mila, what happened?”

Camila clutched her leg and groaned. “We gotta go, that thing was right behind us.”

A loud banging was heard at the door as the Wendigo jumped out at it.

Ariana screamed loudly and backed away.

Camila started limping towards the door. Lauren came to her aid. “Go, go, go, go!”

“Oh, God,” Ariana whimpered from behind them.

But as the three of them made their descent down the stairs. Camila could have sworn she heard Ashley scream out in agony. She concluded that it had to be her imagination. Lauren and Camila were just through hell and back. Ashley’s whereabouts should be the least of her worries. She could only hope that her blue-haired friend was safe and sound.

**04:47**

“Oh my God! Guys! Thank goodness!” Normani said in relief as a haggard looking Camila and Lauren came downstairs with Ariana.

Dinah sighed when she saw Lauren. She looked fine mostly. There were a few cuts and bruises on her face, but otherwise she looked as rad as ever. Camila, on the other hand, looked like hell. There was a bloody gash on her forehead right by her previous bruise and she was limping. “What took you guys so long?”

“It’s not so good up there right now,” Camila replied stiffly.

“Understatement of the night,” Dinah mumbled.

Normani tilted her head to the side. “And the flamethrower guy?”

“Ah… he, uh,” Lauren croaked, “didn’t make it.”

“He didn’t make it!?” Ariana repeated in surprise.

Normani gasped. “Oh no, what happened?”

“The thing, it, it tore him apart! Right in front of us!” Camila shook her head. “I’ve seen too much gore for one night.”

“Oh, God,” Ariana moaned.

“Alright,” Dinah said, clapping her hands together. “These all the doors?”

Lauren nodded. “Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

She furrowed her brows at Dinah. “What are you looking for?” Dinah shrugged and paced around the room for any other door or window.

Dinah turned back to look at a concerned Lauren. “Another way out,” she answered.

Lauren frowned. “Dinah… I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” She took a step forward and squeezed Dinah’s shoulder. “We should stay put, right here, until dawn. At least we’re safe down here-”

Dinah rolled her eyes at Lauren. She sounded so stupid. Where was the girl that wasn’t afraid to do anything? Dinah knew a Lauren that would climb the double apparatus in high school without being belayed. “Oh? Yeah? All wrapped up like a little present with a bow on top for that thing to tear us apart on Christmas morning?”

“People will come for us,” she assured her. “In the morning.”

“You don’t sound so sure,” Dinah quipped.

Lauren turned to look at Normani. “That’s what’ll happen, right, Mani?”

“Yeah, I mean… right?” Normani didn’t sound too sure either.

Useless, useless, all the people around Dinah were fucking _useless_.

“Ashley. She’s gotta have it! The cable car keys.” Dinah’s face lit up.

“Ashley?” Lauren asked skeptically.

Dinah nodded. “One of her dirty little tricks.”

Lauren sighed and flipped part of her hair to the side. Dinah knew that was one of her nervous ticks. “Great. Great!”

Dinah groaned in agreement. “If that fucking thing got a hold of Ashley… we’re shit out of luck.”

Normani shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, Dinah, it’s possible.”

Lauren crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s possible?”

“It may have taken her down to the mine,” she clarified. “I saw some horrible stuff down there… I think it’s where that thing lives and…” She paused and scratched her head. “Huh.”

“Mani? What?” Lauren looked at Normani worriedly.

“Fuck it!” Dinah shouted. “I’m gonna get that key. Right from the thing’s goddamned bedroom, and then I’m gonna get us the hell out of here.”

Lauren frowned and walked over to a bag that was on the table. “Mani? What’s this?”

“It’s that guy’s bag,” Normani replied. Dinah watched her reach in and pull out an old map.

Lauren leaned over Normani’s shoulder and looked at it. “That guy was prepared for anything. I mean, look!” She pointed to a spot on the map. “The lodge is, like, so accurate.”

“Not quite,” Dinah grumbled. “He still ended up dead.” Dinah walked over to Normani and Lauren and watched as they studied the map.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Lauren gasped as she pointed to the building that was marked as ‘Blackwood Sanatorium’. “What is that?”

“I was down there,” Dinah recalled. “It was fucking horrible.”

Lauren turned to glance at Dinah. “You were?”

“Some of them survived, but, like, fifteen of those miners didn’t make it.” Dinah pulled out a stool from under the desk and sat on it. “There was this reporter, and I think he figured out there had been some, like, big cover-up going on. I found these plans - they knew the mines were a death trap - but they let the miners keep working anyways.” Lauren shuddered and Normani raised a brow. Dinah took that as an indication to continue. “And… I’m not sure what it means, but… I found this chair, with dried blood all over the place… like somebody had been tortured.” Dinah shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just saying... it’s weird.”

Normani pointed at a long tunnel at a location on the map. “What’s weird is there’s a tunnel leading from the lodge to the Sanatorium, see?”

Dinah craned her neck to get a better look. “That’s how I got back here.”

Normani then pointed to a cavern on the map that was circled and had a skull marked on it. “I saw this when I was down there. That’s where it lives.”

“Mani, what _is_ that?” Ariana’s shaky voice questioned.

“...Huh?” Normani gave her a confused look.

“What _is_ that?” Ariana pointed at something red on Normani’s collarbone. “Mani… Oh my God! Oh no, oh no, oh no!”

“It’s nothing,” she insisted. “It bit me and-”

Ariana squeaked in surprise. “It bit you? What bit you?”

“The ah… Wendigo.”

Dinah didn’t like that sound of that. “The _what_?” Her tone sounded more aggressive than she intended it to be.

Normani shook her head. “It’s nothing, really!” She pursed her lips. “It’s not a big deal.”

Lauren gave Normani a tentative smile. “Are you okay?”

“Shit,” Dinah cursed. She got up from the stool and tugged on her own hair.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. Really. It’s not bad,” Normani continued, clearly seeing the look of distress on Ariana and Dinah’s faces.

Dinah frowned and snorted in disbelief. “Mani, if that thing bit you...”

“I know what you’re thinking.” Normani crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide the wound from view. “And I’m fine.”

“Are you?”

“Yes!”

Lauren took a step forward and placed a hand on Normani’s right shoulder. “Normani, at least let us check it out.” Her eyebrows wiggled as Normani gave her a distrusting look. “Two years and I can get my Wilderness First Response. I have first-aid certification, I can help you.”

Dinah, on the other hand, fully believed that Normani was dangerous. She looked at her like she expected a head to pop out of her. “Normani, if the Wendigo bit you… y-you could turn into one of those things!”

Lauren turned her head and glared at Dinah. “That’s fucking ridiculous!”

“He said- he said that it was from _eating_ each other,” Ariana blurted out. “Remember? He said that!”

“Wait,” Lauren gasped. “Is that how it worked?”

“Yes! It happens if it bit you, you’re gonna turn into one and then you’re gonna turn on us, oh my God, oh my God, oh my _God!_ ”

“You can’t be down here with us,” Dinah growled, taking a threatening step towards Normani.

Normani’s breath hitched as she leaned back slightly into Lauren. “What!?”

“Dinah,” Lauren chastised.

“You gotta go,” Dinah reiterated.

Normani’s jaw dropped. “A-Are you kidding me!?”

“You’re putting us _all_ in danger,” Dinah continued, lifting a finger up to point at her.

“Like hell I am!” Normani argued.

Dinah sighed frustratedly. Normani could already be under the influence of the fucking monster. She could be planning their demises right away. First, Ariana, because she was annoying as fuck. Then Camila would go, because she’s bony and useless. Normani would love her out of the way. Next, Dinah, Normani would want to get revenge on Dinah for the shit she pulled that caused them to break up in the first place. Finally Lauren, she didn’t do anything wrong, but the monster took no prisoners.

“Normani… You can’t stay here!” Dinah tried again.

“Dinah, just cool your head okay? We don’t know if it works like that. Maybe it’s just a bite,” Lauren said.

Camila shook her head. “I’ve seen what those fuckers can do,” she croaked weakly. “I don’t want to see it again.”

“And so have I, Camz!” Lauren shot back. “But do you see me freaking out because Normani could be a Wendigo? Hell no! Let’s just wait it out… If the bites are going to do something, it’ll take a while before it does. We have until dawn.”

Dinah rolled her eyes and made her way to the door of the basement. She gestured for Camila to go and grab Normani. Camila limped over and grabbed Normani, escorting her towards the door.

“What. is. this. Guys? What are you doing?” Normani whispered.

“Door’s right there.” Dinah patted the hardwood of the basement door. “I’m letting you do this voluntarily.

“Oh no,” Normani spat, gently pushing Camila away from her. “You’re just making yourself feel better about sending me to my death since you know there’s a Wendigo out there to rip me to pieces like it did with Ally.” Dinah’s eyes widened at Normani’s bluntness. “Yeah? That’s right! I’m not like your little slut that got herself killed! I’m not gonna listen to _anything_ you say. You fucking controlling-”

“Oh. My. God.” Ariana waved her arms dramatically. “Will you just go? Go, get out of here!”

Dinah had enough of the silly arguments. She walked over to Lauren and grabbed the revolver that was sticking out of her red jacket’s pocket. She held it up and pointed it at Normani.

“Whoa!” Lauren said in surprise.

“...Okay…” Normani whimpered and started backing away from Dinah.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Dinah… calm down!” Lauren walked over to Dinah and tried to grab her arm. Dinah shrugged her off.

Normani’s back hit the wall. “You’re going to shoot me? Dinah… _me_?”

Dinah shook the gun angrily. “This is the safe room, Mani!” she barked.

“Please!” Normani cried.

“It’s not safe as long as you’re in it… not for us,” Dinah continued. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

“No!” Normani screamed. “D-Don’t do this!”

“I’m really sorry…” Dinah trailed off. Her finger ran over the trigger of the gun. It was then she realized what she was doing. Dinah was about to shoot _Normani_. Normani was her ex-girlfriend. She had loved Normani so much, and ended up dating her from junior year to freshman year of college. Dinah wasn’t a murderer. Doing that was against her morals.

“Fuck… I can’t do this.” Dinah lowered the gun.

Normani let out a sigh of relief and knelt down. “Oh my God.”

Lauren placed her hand back on Dinah’s shoulder and forced her to look at her. “You did the right thing.” Dinah nodded slowly and bit her lip.

“I hope you did,” Ariana cut in annoyedly.

“Maybe… for now.” She still felt Lauren’s gaze on her. Dinah wrapped her arms around Lauren and sighed. “Shit… fuck, fuck.”

Dinah pulled away from Lauren after a brief hug. “Keep an eye on her. If you see anything weird, you guys know what to do.”

“Yeah,” Ariana replied.

Dinah marched to the exit that she knew would eventually lead to the tunnel in the Sanatorium. “No one leave. Okay?” she ordered, turning her head to look back at the four of them. “It’s not safe out there.” She swung the door open. “I’ll be back soon.” Dinah slammed the door and stopped when she heard Normani sobbing.

She leaned her back against the door.

Lauren then started talking.

“God, what happened out there?… that was fucking terrifying,” Lauren said.

“Yeah, I know,” Camila replied.

“Hey… are you okay?”

“He was right there…” Camila sniffled. “And I didn’t save him.”

Lauren sighed. “There was nothing you could do, Camz.”

Camila groaned. “Those fucking Wendigos with their fucking distorted bodies. I hope Dinah finds Ashley and brings her here. Who knows what those freaks could do to her?”

“I know,” Lauren said. “But we have to stay here… it’s the best thing we can do.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Dinah took a deep breath and made her way down the dark tunnel.

**04:51**

Ariana flipped through the pages of the stranger left by the strange man. There were several sections of the journal. This journal seemed to be there just in case he died. It was Ariana’s duty to read the rest of it.

_“This journal is an account of the Wendigo._

_This creature is real and dangerous!!_

_If you are reading this, you will have questions. But I do not have all the answers. This is all evidence and stories of my own experience.”_

Ariana nodded. “Okay, take me on an adventure, old guy.” She flipped the page to the next section on cannibalism.

 _“The Wendigo grows out of_ _CANNIBALISM_ _! When a human is desperate and craves food, trapped on the mountain in the fierce winter storms, when he has eaten nothing for many days, the Wendigo spirit will begin to possess him. Even the strongest man is weak to it. He will kill without remorse - often those companions who have travelled with him. He will eat the flesh raw from the corpses._

_I have seen this happen, for many years ago, a craving for flesh that cannot be sated. And then the change begins. The eyes turn first and become milky and white. Then the teeth become longer, like fangs. The creature grows and the skin is pulled taut across the bones.”_

“This guy is like…” Ariana trailed off. “A little OCD.” She turned the page to the next section on the history.

_“There was a tribe who lived in these mountains. The Cree. Their shamans tell stories of a tall creature ‘born in ice’. The tribe respected the mountain and all the animals which lived on it. The mountain became sacred to the Cree. Every animal became sacred also. The Cree believed it was bad luck to harm an animal on the mountain and would hunt elsewhere._

_In 1893, the miners arrived. They found tin and later, traces of radium. They mined deep into the sacred mountain. The Cree says that the mountain cried out and the spirit was released.”_

“Woah,” Ariana gasped. “The curse was released in like 1893. Who knows how many people have turned into Wendigos?”

She read the next section on combat.

 _“The Wendigo's eyes change. They become both sharper and more dim. The Wendigo sees movement. It is a hunter, like a hawk. But it cannot see_ _stillness_ _. If you are to keep_ _totally_ _still then the Wendigo will not be able to see you._

_Because the Wendigo is mutated from a human, it knows how to hunt us. It can perfectly mimic its prey. You must remain sharp and disciplined._

_Knives or bullets will not harm them. Use a flamethrower. It is the best weapon. Fire envelops them, burns away their skin and makes them weak._

_But try_ _NOT_ _to kill them. Killing a Wendigo should be the last resort. Death releases the Wendigo spirit into the air.”_

“This says that because those guys are mutated from humans, they can mimic their prey. Does this mean that they can make it sound like them? Or transform into them? That’s so weird.” She flipped to the next section on the bite.

 _“Cree legends say that the Wendigo grows from the bite of another Wendigo. But_ _the bite is harmless_ _, I have been bitten, but I did not change. The only way is to eat the flesh of another. There is no other way.”_

“Oh no,” Ariana gasped. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“What?” Lauren shot up out of her seat and moved to stand by Ariana. “What is it? What does it say?”

“It says that, well…” Ariana cleared her throat. “If it bites you, it’s not infectious. It doesn’t do anything.”

Lauren’s eyes widened. “Let me see that!” She snatched the journal and started flipping through the pages.

“I’m sorry,” Normani grumbled. “What did you just say?”

“Mani, it says you’ll be okay.”

“It says what!?” Normani’s breath hitched.

Lauren smiled at Normani. “You’re going to be fine.”

“Fine!?” Normani spat. “Dinah almost shot me! Is that fine!?”

“She didn’t shoot you-” Lauren tried to interrupt.

“And…” Normani glared at Ariana. Ariana stood up from her seat. “This bitch almost let her!”

Lauren moved to stand between the two of them. “Hey! That’s not fair! She was scared-”

Normani snorted. “Oh, really? _She’s_ the one who’s scared?”

Ariana swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m sorry,” she croaked. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. None of us knew!”

“There’s-” Normani paused, running a hand through her dirty locks. She took another advancing step forward. “There’s no excuse! There’s no excuse for this!”

“Please,” Ariana mumbled. “Normani, please just try to understand-”

“Understand the palm of my hand, bitch!”

Normani’s palm came flying towards Ariana’s face. Ariana didn’t have time to duck before Normani slapped her so hard that her tiny body fell to the ground.

“I’m so sorry…” Ariana cried. “I’m so, so, so, so, sorry.”

“Shit. Shit-shit-shit… we’ve got to get Dinah, like now!” Lauren pulled Ariana up from the ground and ran towards the basement door. Ariana went over to help Camila walk as Normani followed after her.


	10. Chapter Nine: Karma

**TWO HOURS UNTIL DAWN**

**05:03**

“Oof.. Okay, okay, okay… what’s th-” Dinah grunted as she pushed open the door to the Sanatorium.

Dinah locked the door behind her. She walked up the stairs and traversed to the Chapel. Her eyes widened. The Chapel looked a lot worse than it did when she was there four hours ago.

“Ho-lee shit,” she muttered.

Dinah looked at one of the doors where the wolves were before. “Huh, what happened to the wolves? Did they try and go find their master?”

She walked up the stairs beside the Chapel. She jumped down the hole in the floor into a small room. Dinah groaned in pain. On the ground was an unlit torch. She reached down and picked it up.

“Now I just need a pitchfork and a mob,” she joked.

Dinah pulled out her lighter and lit the torch up. She grabbed a flashlight, a couple ammunition boxes, and a sawed-off shotgun. “Good enough.”

She left the room and went back to the Chapel. There was a small, barred hole in the wall that showed part of the outside. Dinah made her way towards it and peered out. There was a makeshift graveyard. The first three crosses had the same death date.

_ Matthew Morrison _

_ 07/01/1904 - 24/02/1952 _

_ Christopher Colfer _

_ 16/11/1931 - 24/02/1952 _

_ Heather Morris _

_ 19/07/1926 - 24/02/1952 _

“Holy hell,” Dinah muttered. “Same death date and everything.”

Dinah walked back into the Chapel. Near her foot was another totem. She knelt down and picked it up. This one had a scorpion with red accents carved in. She picked it up and turned it over.

An image flashed before her showing a Wendigo picking her up and grabbing her by the head.

Dinah placed the totem back down and got back up on her feet.

She pulled on the nearest door. It was locked. “Right…” Dinah grunted as she pulled her revolver out and shot the lock off. She kicked the door down and was met with an excited looking white wolf.

“Hey, big guy!” Dinah greeted excitedly. She leaned down and began petting him. “Happy to see me again, huh? I was hoping I’d run into you.” She continued to stroke the wolf’s white fur as the wolf yipped. “Good boy. Alright, pal, you’re coming with me. Here’s the plan. I happened to see a map of this place, so we’re not flying blind. There should be a way into the psychiatric wing that’ll take us right outside the mine. Think we can handle that? Couldn’t have said it better myself. You go, Dinah Jane! Atta boy.” Dinah smiled. “I think I should give you a name, too. How about Fluffy? Jon Snow… Wolfie! Yeah, Wolfie is a good name. Short for Wolfgang Amadeus Mobark.”

Wolfie barked, true to his name, and moved ahead to guide her. Dinah traveled through a fenced outdoor path leading to another building of the Sanatorium. She opened the door to reveal that it was the Psychiatric Ward and a Restraining Area. 

Wolfie yipped as he bounded over to a heavy door. He slipped through a small crack near the heavy door.

“Jesus Christ,” Dinah hissed. “Wish I could move like you, Wolfie, think I’m stuck on this side.” Dinah stepped over to the lever on the wall. She grunted and pulled the lever. The door behind her slammed behind her while the door in front of her slid open partially.

“Awesome.” Dinah grinned. She grunted and used her arms to push open the door a little more and shimmies through the gap. “You see that? I got moves. Don’t I, Wolfie?”

Dinah made her way down another set of stairs to the hallway she was in earlier near the morgue.

On a door across from her were dead wolf remains pinned to the wall. Dinah recognized it as the grey wolf from earlier. “Ah… oh, son of a bitch.” Wolfie came up behind her and started whimpering. He nuzzled the fur of his friend and then walked away. “Jesus Christ, what the fuck have I gotten myself into?” She held the torch up to look at the dead remains. The poor thing looked like something had scratched it to death. It didn’t take a genius to figure out it was a Wendigo that did it. “Fuck, man, that is truly disgusting.”

Dinah entered the room to her left and noticed that the old heavy door was dented in several places. “These doors were built like tanks. How crazy were those inmates?”

There were several markings on the wall with nearly illegible writing. It was like a child tried to write a whole bunch of weird shit about dying and the end times. No, literally, there was a message that read “IT’S THE END TIMES, I TELL YOU! WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE HERE! MARTIN IS TREATING US LIKE PIGS! HELP!”

“This is nuts,” Dinah said as she backed away from the room and took off in the direction of the B-Wing. 

She turned into a room to the right that had an open door. There was a projector. Dinah hesitantly pressed the button that turned it on.

The projector flashed briefly and then started showing an old film. A man with jet black hair was tied up to a wooden chair. He was squirming and thrashing wildly. The poor dude was screaming too. His body… began to change. He was no longer a sickly looking man. His skin turned mottled grey and his eyes changed to a milky white color. Fangs sprouted from where his teeth were. He broke out of his bonds and screeched. Latching onto one of the nurses that stood by, he easily ripped her head off. The film ended with the poor nurse’s head flying and crashing into the camera.

“What the fuck is going on around here!?” Dinah turned to Wolfie. “Seriously, dude, what the fuck? You and your friends… live in a nightmare.”

There was a desk lamp that was still lit. She cautiously made her way towards the table it sat on. Dinah saw that it was a case study dossier. Patient number nine, also known as Harry Styles, was pictured several times over a course of several days. By each picture, it was more and more evident that the man with the scar on his eyebrow was becoming a Wendigo.

Dinah closed the book with a shudder. “Jesus hot sauce Christmas cake, this is fucking unbelievable.” She left the room without even thinking about going back to look for more clues. Those poor “Miracle Men”, guess their rescue wasn’t much of a  _ miracle _ .

She reached the end of the B-Wing and pushed a loose wood wall out of the way. The door behind it was locked. She raised her gun and shot the lock. Just as she opened the door, a rotten corpse fell out. “Holy shit!” Dinah jumped back. “Who the fuck is this dude?”

There was a note in his hand. She tugged it out of his grasp and looked at it.

_ “To whom it may concern, _

_ They are dying outside. I hear screaming and crying. _

_ This hell is my only legacy. _

_ God’s punishment for my mistakes. _

_ No escaping my fate. Death awaits me now. _

_ Max Martin.” _

“So sorry… old dude,” Dinah mumbled. “I don’t blame you.”

Dinah and Wolfie continued walking. A loud screech was heard. Dinah shuddered as it echoed through the Sanatorium.

“What the fuck…”

A can fell off a small container. Dinah flinched and took a step closer to it. “No way, is that sand?” Her eyes lit up with delight. A weird thing about Dinah Jane was that she was obsessed with sand. As a kid, she used to eat it whenever they went to the beach. Her mother thought she was crazy, Dinah thought she was innovative. “I wonder what Albertan sand tastes like…” She reached out to pick up the container but was stopped when a Wendigo suddenly jumped in front of her and screeched in her face.

Dinah should have seen that coming. She didn’t scream. She just pulled out her revolver and shot the Wendigo right between his eyes. “Ha! Ha!” She laughed when the Wendigo darted away. “How’s that feel, you fuck?”

Dinah took off after her taunting. The Wendigo recovered quickly and was right on her tail. Dinah took the left path. “Shit! Shit.. shit..” She opened the door in front of her and slammed it in the Wendigo’s face. Her torch died just as she thought she was saved.

“Aw! Come on! Seriously?” Dinah felt banging on the door behind her. She had to find a way to barricade it. She looked around the room with a frightened expression. There was a cabinet right next to her. Dinah reached over and pulled the cabinet over so it was blocking the door.

Dinah moved to the gap near the door at the opposite end of the room. Another Wendigo jumped out at her.

She pulled the machete from her belt. “Get!” She slashed the Wendigo’s arm. “Outta!” She hacked off the Wendigo’s left claw. “My!” She plunged the machete into the Wendigo’s chest. “Face!” Dinah fell back when the impaled Wendigo grabbed her arm. She kicked it back and ran towards the exit. “Get out!”

Dinah ran ahead to another room and closed the door behind her. “Good dog,” she mumbled to Wolfie that somehow ended up right next to her. “It’s okay… it’s fine.”

A loud bang was heard.

“The hell was that?”

Dinah ducked behind a counter. She heard the Wendigo jump and land hard on the current table she was at. Its face was dangerously close to her head. She held her breath and did her best to keep still.

A bottle rolled off the table near her. Dinah quickly caught it and stood up. She bashed it over the Wendigo’s head and barreled towards the exit of that room.

“Dammit… alright, come on you son of a bitch! Where are you?”

The Wendigo screeched at the end of the hallway.

“Come fight me, you little shit! Come and get a Poly beatdown,” she taunted.

Dinah backed up against the cell door behind her. A hand moved out of the bars and tried to grab her. Dinah turned around and shot the Wendigo. “Nice try! But you’re too slow.”

Dinah and Wolfie took off running again. “When is this shit gonna stop? Jesus Chr- it’s like a fucking bad dream.”

Another hand reached in through the bars and tried to grab her. Dinah avoided it with ease. “Fuck this!”

She turned to look at the many cells where the Wendigos were. “One at a time, boys. There’s enough of me for all a’ya.” Dinah smirked. “Except I got a slight problem…” She raised her gun and fired at an advancing Wendigo. “I  _ only  _ like that sweet pussy.”

Another Wendigo tried to grab her. It only grabbed her briefly before she shook it off. “Argh! Get off!” She tried to shoot the Wendigo but it was too late, he was already gone. Dinah continued running. One last Wendigo tried to grab her before she made her way into another room.

Dinah swore loudly. This room had tons of cages and chains. Some of those cages had Wendigos in them. “Kinky,” she breathed out. A chained Wendigo jumped out and tried to grab Dinah, but his binds prevented it from harming her. Dinah held her gun up and fired a bullet at the Wendigo. “Oh, Jesus… Oh, Jesus… Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Yet another Wendigo reached out and grabbed her neck, scratching it with its claws. Dinah tried to scream but the Wendigo was holding onto her so tight that no sound could leave her. She shakily held her gun up and shot the Wendigo’s shoulder. 

She was dropped to the ground. “Fuck it.” She rubbed her neck and started running again. An unrestrained Wendigo started chasing her. She reached the end of the Restraining Area hallway and tried to open the heavy door. Dinah only ended up partially opening it. The Wendigo started jumping across the walls towards her.

“Dammit! Not good.”

Dinah tipped a nearby barrel over. Two Wendigos were now advancing at her at full speed. Dinah couldn’t shoot at either of them because the other one would still get her regardless. She aimed her gun at the barrel and fired at it. The explosion threw Dinah back and ended up killing the two Wendigos. The spirits escaped the dead Wendigos and advanced towards Dinah.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, shit!” Dinah covered her face as the spirits flew right through her. She hoped that those damn spirits wouldn’t influence her to start eating people because they flew through her.

Dinah got back up on her feet and ran through the door. She closed it and locked it. Dinah ran up the stairs to the Psychiatric Ward. She traversed through a network of rooms, panting heavily. This was way too much exercise for someone at five in the morning. 

A Wendigo appeared behind Dinah once again.

“Fuck!” She ran again and shot open the door in front of her. Dinah slipped inside and barricaded the door behind her.

To her surprise, Wolfie was still there and looking at her expectantly. “Hey, buddy! Come on down… it’s alright. Okie-dokie, bud, catch you on the flip side, huh?” Dinah ruffled the hair on top of Wolfie’s head. He yipped and trotted away. Dinah couldn’t help but smile when she saw the pup leave. Note to herself: get a dog when she managed to survive this nightmare.

Dinah ran upstairs to the exit of the Sanatorium. She pushed the door with a grunt, but it didn’t open. 

The Wendigo arrived and screeched from behind her.

“Shit!”

Dinah whirled around and aimed her gun at another barrel. She shot it and jumped out the window when the room exploded. She landed in the snow with a thud. A spirit of a Wendigo burst out of the Sanatorium behind her. Dinah got back on her feet and started running while the Sanatorium was engulfed in flames behind her. She was one step closer to finding Ashley and getting the hell off the damn mountain.

**05:07**

Ally woke up with a gasp. The first thing she felt was extreme chilliness. Her teeth chattered as she moved to wrap her arms around herself.

_Oh, no!_ _I’m naked,_ she thought. She ran her hands over her bruised and dirty body. She wasn’t totally naked, but her dang floral print underwear was not going to help her get warm.

She sat up. “Oh… crap.”

It was so dark around her. She had no idea where she was. Ally was lost and alone. There was no sign of Dinah.

_ Dinah… _

“Dinah,” she croaked. “Dinah, where are you?” She used a nearby boulder to pull herself up onto her feet.

“Oh my God. Lord Jesus, save me,” Ally whispered as she limped over to a lamp. Hanging on a hook was a green miner’s jacket. There were some miner’s boots on the ground next to her. Ally used the lit up oil lamp to examine herself. There were cuts and gashes all of her body. Her legs looked scratched and were bleeding like crazy. Her stomach had two symmetrical gashes. There was the largest gash on her chest that looked like some beast tried to scratch her heart out. The left side of her face was the worst part of it all. She brought a hand up to stroke her cheek. She examined her hand and gasped in horror when her fingers were painted in blood. Or maybe it was her dried blood from before, she couldn’t tell.

Ally pulled the green miner’s jacket off the hook and wrapped it around herself. She slowly put the boots on too while breathing heavily.

“Oh my God…” Ally winced in pain.

A loud screech was heard from just feet behind her.

She froze in her spot and clutched the sleeves of her jacket. Could it be the monster from before? She stood still and closed her eyes. God was her only hope at this point.

**05:16**

Lauren’s headlamp was actually pretty damn strong, but Ariana still felt the need to keep her flashlight on. Normani and Camila trailed right behind them.

“Come on, guys,” Lauren urged impatiently. “Hurry up! We gotta find Dinah. Come on!”

Camila groaned in pain and nearly fell over. Normani was able to catch her. “Hey… ah… I’m kind of gimping out here, guys.” She pointed to her leg. “I think you guys should go on without me.”

“No, Mila,” Ariana argued. “We are not leaving you. We’re sticking together. Dinah will just have to wait.”

Camila nodded slowly and started limping again. Normani shoved past Ariana and wrapped her arm around Camila’s waist to help her walk. “Bitch,” Normani muttered under her breath as she passed Ariana.

Ariana sighed. She was never going to live down the stupid bite incident. She followed behind the group and came across a totem. She leaned down and picked it up. Ariana turned over the red accented totem with flies carved into it and took a look at it.

The image she saw was absolutely gruesome. It showed Ashley with milky white eyes. One half of her mouth looked normal while the other half had giant protruding fangs. The worst part of it all was that she was eating Lauren’s dead body. If Ashley got turned into a Wendigo, Ariana figured Lauren would be the last person she would want to eat. She’d do a Vero and preserve Lauren’s head and then do some creepy thing to it after her nightly hunts. Maybe she’d even whisper “my precious” in a weird voice. Okay, now that Ariana thought about it, that was really disgusting. 

Ariana heard Lauren curse loudly. Ariana got back up on her feet and ran over to where Lauren was banging on a door loudly and Camila was leaning into Normani woozily.

“Oh, shit. Dinah must have locked it behind her,” Lauren concluded. She banged on the door again. “Crap! There’s gotta be another way in.”

Ariana looked over to her left and saw a manhole. “Hey, what about that manhole?”

Lauren stopped her banging and turned to look at what Ariana was talking about. “Oh… huh.”

“I mean, should… should we try it?” Ariana asked.

“Not like we got a lot of options,” she mumbled in response.

Ariana picked up a small metal pipe and used it to pry open the manhole covering. She grabbed one side of it while Lauren grabbed the other. The two of them carried the lid to the side.

“Okay… ugh!” Ariana wiped her brow. “Okay, this is the last place I’d wanna be in now.”

“So…” Lauren placed her hands on her hips. “Who’s going first?”

Ariana shook her head. “Haha, so funny, Laur…”

“ _ Après-vous _ ,” Normani said as she gestured to the manhole.

Lauren looked at Camila, who was too out of it to even fathom what was going on and then climbed down the manhole. “Not so bad down here,” she remarked. “You think this is the tunnel to the Sanatorium?”

“Of course it is,” Ariana replied defensively. “Where else would it go?”

Normani let go of Camila and made her way down the manhole. Camila groaned and slumped over. Ariana moved to help her upright. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to Camila’s cheek. “Camila… I know you’re hurt but you gotta move it, alright?”

“I-I’m tryin’, Ari…” Camila moaned as she knelt down and started climbing down the manhole. 

Ariana followed after her.

She assumed that Normani stayed behind to pick Camila up  _ literally _ because when she got down there Camila was gone. Ariana started walking through the tunnels alone. 

She heard a feminine and familiar voice scream. Ariana gasped in horror.  _ Ally _ .

“Help me,” Ally cried out faintly.

“H-Hello? Who’s there…? Anybody…? ...Ally? Is it you…” Ariana called out to the empty tunnels. She had to go after Ally. Although Dinah said that Ally was dead if Ariana found out that she wasn’t maybe she’d get some brownie points.

Ariana took a deep breath. “This is fucking crazy. Ally?”

She walked over to the source of the noise and jumped down a ledge. “Ugh! Ally…? Is that you…?”

“Oh, Dinah! Dinah! Stop standing there and help me!” Ally cried again in a muffled voice.

Ariana furrowed her brows in confusion. Dinah was in the Sanatorium, what was going on?

A loud banging from a nearby trapdoor caused her to jump. “Oh, no… no, no, no, no, no! Oh, God.”

Ariana noticed a totem by her foot. She knelt down and looked at it. There was a brown snake wrapped around it. Ariana flipped it over.

Ashley was shown getting her head crushed by a Wendigo. Ariana gasped in horror as Ashley’s head basically exploded from the impact.

“D-Disgusting,” Ariana gagged. She heard Ally scream again. Ariana realized that she should really get back to the group. “I’m… sorry, Ally! I’m sorry.” As Ariana walked away, she remembered that the Wendigo could mimic its prey. She prayed that was the case for the poor girl.

Ariana continued walking and found the rest of the group standing by a rock wall. She sighed in relief. “Oh my goodness, I am so glad to see you.”

“Glad you’re safe,” Lauren replied with a warm smile.

“Look…” Ariana looked at the rock wall and pointed to the broken ladder. “The ladder’s toast!”

“Wow, great.”

“We’re never going to make it up here,” Ariana whined.

Lauren shook her head. “Nah, nah, nah. I think I can… I think I can do it. It’s like a rock wall. I’m used to those things. I’m gonna keep going.” She turned to look at Ariana. “You should head back to the lodge, I’ve gotta get Dinah.”

“Good luck!” Ariana said cheerfully. 

Lauren chuckled. “Don’t think I’ll need it.”

Ariana grabbed Camila’s hand and helped guide her back in the direction that they came. Normani followed suit with a stoic expression.

**05:35**

A loud painful scream echoed through the mines. Lauren thought it sounded a lot like Ashley’s. She shook her head. There was no way the blue-haired girl could be nearby. She partially accepted that Ashley could be dead. Still, she had no room for crying. Lauren had shed enough tears for Ashley in one night.

Lauren grabbed the rock wall and began climbing.

She set each of her feet on a separate rock. Lauren jumped to a wood board, but it ended up breaking, so she quickly grabbed onto another rock.

“Come on…” she mumbled.

Lauren shuffled to the right and set her foot on another rock. She bent her knees slightly and jumped to the outcrop. “You’ve done this before,” Lauren encouraged herself. “It’s just like climbing the overhang in the climbing gym.”

She grabbed another rock with her left hand and then jumped onto a ledge. Lauren climbed a few more rocks and pulled herself to the top of the wall. “I beat you,” she spat proudly. “I fucking beat you.”  
Lauren peered through a hole in the rock wall. There was a metal door shown. “Hm… That must be the Sanatorium. But, how do I get there?” She decided to take the stairs to the right. Maybe there was some sort of way around the wall. She climbed the stairs and paused when she heard rumbling. Lauren whipped her head around to see a bunch of rocks fall and break the stairs she was just on.

“Ahh! Jesus!”

Lauren heard another scream. “Huh?” She walked past a symbol on the wall with a skull and antlers. Just below it was a totem that looked exactly like the symbol on the wall. She knelt down and turned it over.

Her breath hitched as she saw herself being lifted up by a Wendigo and being impaled in the stomach.

Lauren let out a disgusted groan and put the totem back down. “What…”

She continued down the raised path. Lauren stopped when she heard intense rumbling again. Yet again, another pile of rocks were dumped in front of her. She held her arms out to keep her balance. “Oh, fuck! Fuck! Leave me alone!”

Lauren continued walking and jumped across a gap. She heard yet another loud scream. She shuddered and leaned down to pick up a metal pipe. Lauren dropped down from the ledge and found herself right in front of the metal door.

A burning Wendigo burst out of the metal door. A soot-covered Dinah Jane Hansen chased after them with a giant shovel. “Come back here, you barbecued little shit! I’m gonna fuck you up!”

“Dinah!” Lauren screamed.

The Wendigo lunged at Dinah.

“Holy shit!” Lauren yelled at the top of her lungs. She cupped her hands over her mouth. “Hey, fatty! Over here!” The Wendigo turned their head and screeched. Lauren used her pipe to bash their head in a few times. Dinah pulled out her revolver and fired a bullet into them for good measure.

The Wendigo shriveled up and died. Dinah slammed the door shut. Lauren watched in awe and horror as a white, ghastly, spirit escaped its body and flew away.

“Whoa.” Dinah panted and wiped her soot covered face as best as she could. “You alright?”

“Uh, define  _ alright _ ,” Lauren quipped.

“Alive, for a start.”

Lauren giggled fakely. “Yeah. Yeah, alive’s good!”

Dinah laughed along with her in the same fake tone. “The hell you doing here anyway? Didn’t I tell your cute Cuban ass to stay in the lodge?”

“I was gonna warn you about the Wendigos,” she replied. “And tell you that Normani’s bite is actually harmless.”

Dinah’s eyes widened. “Woah… fuck. How pissed is Mani?”

“Hella,” Lauren breathed out. “She tried to beat the crap out of poor Ariana.”

“That Normani is a wild one when she’s mad,” she agreed. “Oh, by the way? I got the message on the Wendigos. Those sick freaks are unbelievable.”

“Yeah…”

Dinah patted her back. “C’mon. Let’s find a way down to where this fucker lives.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was so late. i've been crazy busy. xoxo


	11. Chapter Ten: Repentance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what you’re about to read is definitely very fucked up. like v e r y. if you don’t feel like reading into ashley’s gory and depressing hallucinations, please skip her section. also, sorry this took forever to update... i kept putting it off lol.

**ONE HOUR UNTIL DAWN**

**06:10**

Doctor Cowell had been staring at Ashley from his stupid desk with his stupid green lamp and tacky stuffed crow for a while, she could feel it. But Ashley was ignoring him.

Guilt. Shame. Anger. Sadness. Tons of negative emotions filled her shaking body.

_ This isn’t real,  _ Ashley thought.

She heard Doctor Cowell, referred to as Dickter Cowell (sometimes), stand up and walk over to her trembling form. He knelt down in front of her. Ashley whined softly and scooted back until she hit the hard rock of the mine wall.

“I wonder how many of these ‘sessions’ are of any help to you, now. You just won’t listen to me and things seem pretty…  _ fucked up. _ ”

Ashley lifted her head to look at Doctor Cowell. He had already stood up and turned his back to her. “You’re wrong! I’m right!” Ashley insisted. “Lauren’s going to come save me, just you see! She and Dinah-”

“You keep saying that this  _ Lauren  _ girl is going to save you,” he interrupted her. “From what you’ve told me, I find it so hard to believe that you’ve been able to keep such a sweet and loyal girl in your life.” He chuckled darkly. “It makes me wonder if she’s even  _ real  _ in the first place.”

“She’s real, doc!” Ashley shot back. “She’s the realest thing in my life… Lauren keeps me sane, doc. I love her, I love her…”

“Then  _ why  _ did you hurt her!?” Doctor Cowell turned his head and glared at her. “Why did you hurt Camila? Why did you hurt Ariana?”

Ashley narrowed her eyes. “You don’t get it, Doc… you don’t get what happened to me. I’m fucked up in the head. Even  _ you  _ can’t save me.”

Doctor Cowell nodded. “I know, Ashley. I realized that by now.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “So, I’m going to  _ leave _ you now, Ashley. It’s time, you learned there is more to be afraid of that can be dreamt up by the unhinged imagination of a self-indulgent,  _ spoiled little brat! _ ”

Ashley trembled violently. “Doc…”

“You had so many people in your life who cared about you… who were willing to  _ help _ ! But at every turn, you chose to push them away, even the one you claim to be so in love with. And now? You’re all  _ alone _ .”

Ashley breathed heavily and bit down on her lip.

“Though by the sound of things, you won’t be alone for long,” he continued. “I hope your thinking that Lauren will save you is correct. You shouldn’t be alone for long. Deep breaths, Ashley, deep breaths…”

Doctor Cowell repeated “deep breaths” as he walked away from Ashley. He began to fade out of view along with his creepy desk. Ashley tried to stand up.

_ “Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques. Dormez vous?”  _ A decaying Vero walked forward and sang lowly.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Ashley croaked, tripping and falling backward.

_ “Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques. Dormez vous?”  _ A decaying Lucy joined in, standing next to Vero.

Vero smiled softly and looked over at Lucy. They laced their zombie-like fingers together.  _ “Dormez vous? Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding dang dong.” _

“No, no, no,” Ashley repeated.

_ “Dormez vous?”  _ Lucy sang as she and Vero took another step closer.

“No, no, no. Not again! Please!”

_ “Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding dang dong.” _

Vero reached her hand forward, trying to touch Ashley’s face.  _ “Ding dang dong.” _

“Not again! Get away!” Ashley thrashed around. “Get away! Get away from me!”

_ “Ding. Dang. Dong.”  _ Lucy’s grinned and removed her decaying head from her body. She started laughing loudly.

Ashley stood up and covered her ears.  _ This isn’t real,  _ she thought. “No! You’re dead!”

Doctor Cowell appeared in front of her. “Sorry.” No matter how tightly she clasped her hands, she could hear the dead’s taunts.  
“You’re not here! They’re dead!”

Doctor Cowell laughed loudly. “You can’t change what happened last year.”

Vero reached out and grabbed Ashley’s shoulder. The blue haired girl screamed and tried to push her off. “Ashley,” she said. “Come with us.”

“Shut up,” Ashley wailed.

“We miss you, Ashley,” Vero continued.

Ashley shook her head. “No! You’re dead!”

Vero smiled widely. “Come with us!” She giggled. “You’ll be happier.”

Ashley started crying loudly. “I am happy! I have Lauren! Stop it! Stop!”

“A goddamned murderer is what you are,” Dinah seethed as she pushed past the decaying Lucy and Vero. Vero looked over at Dinah hungrily. She licked her rotten lips. Ashley found that to be absolutely sickening. “Ally is fucking dead, you dick!” 

Dinah tugged on a person next to her. The person next to her was Ally. Her head was bowed. Ashley was speechless. Ally looked up at her. Ashley screamed at the sight. Ally’s jaw was missing. Ripped right off of her. Her front teeth were still there too and her eyes were bugged out in complete shock.

“...It’s not ready…” Ashley whispered.

“You manipulated us!” Camila cried out in pain. She stumbled into the mine. Ashley noticed that she was limping like crazy.

“No, they’re gonna love it,” Ashley protested weakly. “My big scheme… my work of art.”

Camila narrowed her eyes. “You’re a coward! Are you insane!?”

Ashley shook her head and forced herself to smile. “I just want us to have a good time. They’re gonna love it when it’s ready.”

“Oh my God, no!” Ariana started screaming as the saw started edging towards her. No, that wasn’t supposed to happen! The saw was supposed to go towards Ashley. 

“Hello there,” the psycho said with her big, scary clown mask.

Ashley gritted her teeth when she saw the psychotic version of herself. Oh, who was she kidding? She  _ was  _ psychotic. She would never be normal. This psycho was worse, though. “I don’t take orders from you… you can’t tell me what to do….”

“Ashley, I don’t know what’s going o-” Ariana was cut off when the saw started piercing through her. She screamed in pain as the saw hacked through her tiny frame. Her blood and guts were spilling everywhere.

Camila started crying. “Ariana! Ariana! I’ll get you out of this! I won’t let you die.” At “die” Ariana slumped over and stopped screaming. Her body was already cut in half.

A loud screeching was heard. A bony-looking Normani crawled towards her with half of her face looking distorted. Fangs were sticking out of the left side of her face. Her perfectly manicured fingernails were now long sharp claws. A healed scar was visible on her neck. “Hungry…” Normani moaned. “Need food. Need flesh.”

“Wh-” Ashley sputtered.

Normani used her claws to drag a familiar body wearing a Letterman jacket. There was a hook sticking out of the poor girl’s neck. Ashley moaned and whimpered as she realized who it was, Zendaya. Normani leaned over and took a bite out of Zendaya’s cheek.

Ashley covered her mouth. “Oh, fuck!”

Dinah noticed this. She pulled out her revolver and pointed it at Normani. “This is the safe room, Mani!” She shook her revolver angrily. “It’s not safe as long as you’re in it… not for us!” Dinah aimed the revolver at Normani’s head. Normani started screeching in response. She fired a bullet right into Normani’s eye. The impact caused Normani to fly backward and hit the mine wall.

“D-Did that just happen?” Ashley mumbled. “What the…” 

“How could I ever… How could I ever-” Lauren’s voice boomed. Ashley’s eyes widened in shock as she saw the girl that she loved push past the crowd of her friends in front of her. “I. LOVED. YOU.” The words echoed in her brain, a figment of her imagination drawn from the past. The first time they were spoken, she hadn’t cried, but now she did, jarring her body with deep, heartbroken sobs.  
Ashley cried, and watched Lauren break down into tears, too. No one moved to comfort her. Except… wait, what? Lucy, who was still clutching her own damn head, lifted it up and attached it back to her body. She sauntered over to Lauren and lifted her head up. Lauren’s look of despair changed to one of delight.

“Lucy, baby!” Lauren surged forward and brought her perfect pink lips to Lucy’s rotting brown ones. “I’m so happy to see you.” Lucy giggled and wrapped her arms around her. Lauren continued to kiss her passionately.

Ashley felt sick. She choked out, “Lauren, stop it! Stop it! You  _ love  _ me. Lucy’s dead!”

Lauren pulled away from the kiss to glare at Ashley. “Shut up, you  _ hag _ .” Ashley was completely taken aback by her harsh tone. Lauren had never spoken to her like that until… “Are you blind? I thought you were smarter than this… you were always my second choice.” Lucy smiled at her answer and pressed her rotting lips to the top of Lauren’s head. “As soon as I found Lucy, I’d kick you to the curb.”

“No, you’re lying!” Ashley screamed. “You love me! Lauren, how could you forget about us? We were real. We  _ are  _ real. I love you, you love me. You  _ told _ me so. I waited for you. I just… I made a mistake.” The wording of what she had just said suddenly hit her. Accidentally tripping Lauren or accidentally biting her too hard during sex would have been a mistake. What she had done was no mistake. This was a colossal fuck-up, and Ashley had known exactly what she was doing the whole time she was hurting Lauren.

Lauren only smiled sadly. “Then why’d you do it?” Her outfit morphed. She was no longer wearing her red track jacket. She had her towel on. Lauren sunk back into a rolling chair that appeared behind her. Ashley knew that Lauren would never do this to her, but… would she?

Lucy took her head off and put it on Lauren’s lap. Lauren started screaming. “Lucy! Lucy! Lucy! Noooo…!” It was like Lauren totally forgot that she was just sucking face with her nastiness minutes ago.

The psycho came up behind her. Ashley saw the blue hair peeking out from behind the mask. “A beautiful bathing bird,” the psycho said creepily. She picked up Mr. Duck and ripped him in two. She placed the two pieces of the rubber duck in her lap. That only spurred Lauren onto a further screaming mess. The psycho clasped her hands around Lauren’s neck and started choking her.

Ashley could only watch as the psycho gagged and choked her. “Let her go! Let her go! LET GO OF HER! I didn’t want anyone to get hurt! This isn’t fair!” Lauren let out one last gasp of air before slumping over. Ashley slumped to the ground and cried, the sort of tears that came when she was just exhausted. And Ashley was so, so, so damn tired. Tired of living, tired of her own brain, tired of how she couldn’t quite convince herself that the shit she was seeing wasn’t real.

Camila swore loudly. “You killed her! You bastard!” She brought the gun up that Ashley knew was the one she gave for the second saw trap. Camila aimed the gun at her chin and fired into it. Camila screamed loudly before falling over, dead. No, this wasn’t supposed to happen, those were blanks in there, Camila should be fine, she never wanted to hurt anyone-

“How does it make you feel?” the psycho asked her. Her voice was stolen, strangely familiar, and Ashley realized it was her own.

“You can’t tell me what to do anymore,” Ashley replied through a red-tinted daze.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Time has run out for Ashley,” she giggled.

Ashley gulped. “Okay… Okay…”

“Come with us,” Vero said. Lucy returned and hugged her head close to her.

“I trust you,” she croaked.

“We’re out of time,” Doctor Cowell warned.

Ashley nodded and made her way to her two former roommates. She grabbed their hands. “I trust you.”

The crowd disappeared. All of her dead friends were gone. Lucy and Vero were gone. Ashley stumbled and rocked back and forth, tasting iron from her lip that she had bitten to bloody shreds. She had to get out of there. The stupid creature that dragged her down into the mines had made her worse for wear. Ashley felt like she had a few ribs broken.

Ashley stumbled through the dark tunnels. She turned a corner and as met with a few rocks piling up in the path. One of them looked strangely like a head. Lucy’s head… No, she wasn’t real.

A decayed Lucy climbed over the rocks. “Ash!”

“No!” Ashley barked, eyes wild. “No, no, no. You’re not real!”

“We were all alone down there,” Lucy cried. “You took my girlfriend from me.”

Ashley growled in anger and shoved the decaying body over. “Not again! Stay away from me!” She broke out into a run and climbed over the rocks.

She turned a corner and slipped through a bunch of wooden boards. Ashley was met once again with a decaying Vero and Lucy.

“All alone…” Vero trailed off. ”But you’re with us now.”

Ashley leaned back against the boards. “No! Get away!”

“Friends…”

“Get away from me, you’re not real,” Ashley howled.

“Why didn’t you save us, Ashley?” Lucy asked remorsefully. “Did you hate me that much because I was dating your girl?”

Ashley shook her head and groaned. “I didn’t! I didn’t steal her! We love each other...” She trailed off because she wasn’t sure if that fact was true anymore.

“Why did you want us to die?”

“I didn’t want you to die,” Ashley started sobbing. She brought her hands to her head and clutched it. “I swear!”

Ashley broke out into a run and pushed past her decaying friends. There was no escape, they were everywhere. Her demons always seemed to follow her around and haunt her the most when she was alone. That’s why she hated being alone. That was when she was most susceptible to being taunted.

The mine walls around her started to change. They were no longer wooden or made or rock, they were made of pig’s skin. Parts of the wall began to crumble and spray out blood like a knife was cutting through them.

“N-No!”

A squealing pig came bursting through the walls. It was running right at her. Ashley held her fist out and punched the pig in the face. She choked on her breath as the pig head flew off of the pig’s body and smacked into her. Ashley gagged in disgust. Gigantic pig entrails started to move on the ground. Ashley turned around and vomited.

“Please! Please, no… please no…”

A giant, blood-soaked, and decayed Vero and Lucy emerged from the entrails. Ashley cowered in fear.

“Ashley!” Vero hissed.

“No no n- n- n- no… I don’t... I don’t take orders from you! No…” Ashley pleaded.

Vero lifted her hands up and ripped her face open, revealing a dirty, grinning skull. Ashley screamed in shock. “Is this what you want?”  
“No! No! Why are you doing this!? Leave me alone! Why are you doing this!?”

Vero wailed. “Why didn’t you save us, Ashley?”  
“You’re dead!”

“Why did you want us to die?”  
“Y-You’re dead,” Ashley insisted. “I didn’t want this! You’re not real, you’re not real, you’re not real-” she stumbled to the floor, digging her fingernails into her scalp and twisting her dirty, matted blue hair. 

A grotesque looking face emerged from the walls of the mine. Ashley recognized it as the one that dragged her down to the mines in the first place.

“Ashley!”

Ashley screamed one last time.

**06:00**

“I was not prepared for how ugly that thing would be up close,” Lauren complained. “Camz and I saw them earlier, but I didn’t get close enough to see what they actually look like. It’s a total turn off.”

“Yeah,” Dinah mumbled her agreement. “So I noticed something kind of weird about it.”

Lauren raised a brow. “Uh… what?”

“The Wendigo - it had a scar.”

Lauren frowned. “So what? That could mean anything.”

Dinah bit her lip and stopped walking. “I’ve seen it before.”

“What are you talking about, Dinah?”

Dinah shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I saw these old pictures of some guy with that same scar - and he was transforming into a Wendigo.”

Lauren’s breath hitched. “You’re kidding.”

She shook her head and laughed. “I wish I wasn’t, Lauser.” Dinah grabbed Lauren’s hand and helped her down a ledge that went further into the miles. “It was one of those miners who’d been trapped, back in the fifties… in the cave-in.” Lauren shuddered at the thought of a bunch of miners transforming into a Wendigo. “That thing has gotta be eighty years old, at least.”

“Spunky for an old-timer,” Lauren quipped. Dinah chuckled quietly.

“They cleaned the place out… killed a lot of people,” she continued.

Lauren frowned deeply. “They? You mean there’s more of them?”

Dinah nodded. “Oh, yep. Whole fucking squadron of them…” She stretched her arms out tiredly. “All of them wanted a piece of the sexy Dinah Jane.”

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up. How many were after the sexy Dinah Jane?”

“Too many,” Dinah replied. “Am I that much of a babe magnet?”

Lauren decided not to answer that. Fueling Dinah’s ego would be an absolutely awful decision at this point. She looked around the empty cavern. “I think we’re close to the lair.”

Dinah pointed her flashlight at a small underground lake. “What makes you say that?”

“I dunno… I just… feel really terrible all of a sudden.” Lauren shrugged.

“Ditto,” Dinah said.

The two of them approached the underwater lake. Lauren crossed her arms over her chest. “I really don’t wanna go in there,” she admitted.

Dinah sighed. “There’s no other way through. We’ll have to brave it out.”

Lauren noticed a makeshift grave to her left. She saw something leather poking out of the ground near a bunch of old bones. “Dinah… is that what I think it is?”  
“Shit… looks like a grave,” Dinah gasped.

Lauren kneeled down and picked up the piece of leather. She gasped in horror. This was the watch she gave Lucy for her nineteenth birthday. “Oh, God,” she whimpered. “Dinah… This is Lucy’s! This is her watch!”

“What!?” Dinah hissed and knelt down next to her. “Let me see…”

“I gave this to her… for her birthday. She said that it was - fuck.” Lauren saw a wooden cross that was knocked down. “Look - there’s a cross here!”

“So this is where she was buried…”

Lauren nodded and glanced at the bones around her. “But… who dug her up?”

“Let’s just keep moving,” Dinah suggested.

Lauren got up on her feet and walked towards the lake. She saw another totem sticking up from the ground. This one was a cute little badger with white accents. Lauren knelt down and turned it over.

Lauren saw a group of five people standing in front of a burning lodge. She recognized the figures as Dinah, Camila, Ariana, Normani, and herself.

“Hey, quit procrastinating! Let’s go, chica,” Dinah called. Lauren sighed and put the totem back down. Dinah was already wading into the lake.

“Fine, I’m going in.”

Dinah shuddered as she continued walking through the water. “Come on. It’s okay.”

“You sure...?” Lauren waded in. The cold water pinched her skin.

“I’m not dead yet,” Dinah retorted.

Lauren took a deep breath and followed after her. “Famous last words,” she breathed out. “It’s freezing. I can’t feel my fingers.”

“I can still feel mine. If you don’t mind bottoming, we can totally fuck right now,” Dinah said with a wink. Lauren rolled her eyes. Dinah nearly tripped on a rock. “Holy shit.”

“W-Wait a minute.” Lauren’s teeth chattered as she sunk in deeper into the freezing lake. “I thought you’d reached the deepest part.”

“I didn’t say that,” Dinah argued. “I said it was o-okay, meaning there weren’t any sharks or anything in here.”

“Sharks. Great! Thanks for your help,” Lauren spat.

They made their way towards the left of the water wheel. Lauren climbed up the path and out of the water with Dinah right behind her. Lauren saw an old journal leaning against the wall. She leaned down and picked it up. Lauren inhaled sharply when she saw that the journal had familiar handwriting.

**Day 1**

_ “My best and first friend is dead. The fall killed her... I watched the color drain from her face. My leg is broken. I'm all alone, stuck here with Lucy's body. Someone will come soon.” _

“Shit,” Lauren cursed quietly. Dinah came up behind her and gave her a puzzled look. She flipped the page.

**Day 5**

_ “I've never been so HUNGRY. It feels like my stomach is twisting around inside. I took Lucy's sweater. Much warmer now. She's still looking out for me. I hope Ashley and Lauren and the others will find me soon.” _

Lauren turned to the next entry. She brought her unoccupied hand to her mouth and started sobbing. “Oh, Dinah…” Dinah narrowed her eyes and motioned for her to read it. “Day Thirty: I’m so sorry Lucy. I have no choice. It’s the only way I can survive anymore. If someone finds this, I’m sorry. I had to… I had no choice. Forgive me, Lucy, I’m sorry,” she read aloud. “This is so terrible!”

“Jesus, what does it mean?” Dinah frowned.

Lauren turned to the next page. 

**Day 33**

_ “My hands feel unclean. _

_ My nails fell out PUSHED OUT _

_ I am aching but no more COLD NO PAIN _

_ I am getting stronger!” _

The next page consisted of unintelligible scribbles. Lauren could make out the words “HUNGER” and “LUCY” several times, but that was it.

“It makes sense,” Lauren said. “I think… Vero dug up Lucy. It was Vero!”

Dinah bit her lip. “No that’s - that’s ridiculous!”

“Dinah… Dinah, it has to be. It’s the only thing that makes sense! Lucy died in the fall,” Lauren explained.

Dinah ran a hand through her dirty hair. “What does that mean!?

“Vero must have buried her…”

“Goddammit… Goddammit!”

“Vero was down here… for…”

Dinah grabbed Lauren by her jacket. “Stop! I don’t believe any of this!”

Lauren frowned. “She would have been starving… she would’ve been desperate-”

“Fuck!”

Lauren grabbed Dinah’s hand. “We need to find Ashley. Right now.” Dinah let out a slew of curses as Lauren guided them back into the water. They continued walking through the cold lake. Lauren tried her best to let it sink in that Vero  _ ate  _ Lucy. It was sick and disgusting. But like the strange man said, Wendigos had little to no humanity in them.

“It’s getting deeper,” Dinah remarked.

Lauren mumbled her agreement.

“Hey, it’s sloping up again. We’re gonna make it.” She lightly hit Lauren’s shoulder. “No more hypothermia for us.”

“Don’t jinx it,” Lauren warned as the two of them waded out of the water.

Ahead of them was a metal door. “We made it…” Dinah said, relieved. Lauren placed her hand on the metal door and unlocked it. The door suddenly opened and water gushed out. A decomposing head rolled out along with  _ Zendaya’s  _ head.

Lauren screamed and clutched onto Dinah. “Jesus… she... “ Dinah mumbled. “Zendaya, I’m so sorry…”

“Jee…” Lauren covered Dinah’s mouth to prevent her from screaming and walked through the door that they opened. 

Hanging above them in the next room was the strange man’s and Zendaya’s body.

“...Bodies...” Lauren groaned.

“I’m gonna be sick,” Dinah said as she clutched her stomach.

Both of them stopped walking when they heard Ashley scream. “Wait, wait, wait! That’s Ash,” Dinah exclaimed.

The two of them crowded around a wooden board to find Ashley, hands deep in her blue tresses, and rocking back and forth.

“No, no, no, no, no! I don’t take orders from you. I don’t…”

“Ashley!” Lauren cried out.

Ashley’s head lifted up at the sound of her name. “No, no, stop! Lauren… let go of her…” Lauren covered her mouth to stop herself from letting out a sob. “I love her, I’m sorry! Don’t hurt her.”

Dinah moved to break down the wooden boards separating Ashley from them. Lauren climbed through the new hole. Dinah followed after her.

“I don’t take orders from you, you can’t tell me what to do…” Ashley sobbed.

“Hey… Hey, Ashley!” Dinah waved her hand in front of Ashley’s face. She just ignored Dinah and continued pulling at her own hair.

Ashley whined. “You can’t tell me what to do anymore! I’m sick of you!”

“Ashley? Baby?” Lauren whispered.

Dinah tried to place her hand on Ashley’s shoulder, but Lauren stopped her. “Don’t. It’ll scare her.”

“You can’t tell me what to do! Okay… okay… I trust you… I trust you… I trust you…”

Lauren and Dinah exchanged worrying glances. “What’s the matter with her, Laur? Have you ever seen her do this?”

She shook her head. “No, she’s totally out of it. It’s kind of scary.”

Dinah brought her hand up and slapped Ashley on the face. Ashley screamed, but then seemed to snap out of it. “D… Dinah?”

“Ashley… Hey man -”

Ashley started whining again and hugged herself. “Don’t h-hit me, p-please.”

Dinah frowned. “You were deep in it, man. Full mental jacket.”

“We didn’t think we’d get you back,” Lauren admitted, finally speaking after only just watching Dinah wake up Ashley.

Her face lit up when she saw Lauren. Ashley stumbled towards her and wrapped her arms around Lauren, acting as if what happened three hours ago never did. Lauren stiffened at the unexpected embrace. She slowly moved her arms back to hug her close to her. Ashley started sobbing into her shoulder as she tightened her grip on Lauren. Lauren could only stand there and comfort the weeping girl in her arms.

“D-Do you still love me?” Ashley mumbled into her shoulder.

Lauren’s forehead creased at her question. “Now’s not the time for that…”

Ashley lifted her head up and looked right into her eyes. “I s-saw you die.  You said you didn’t love me!”

Lauren averted her gaze from the completely broken girl in her arms. “I do, okay?” Ashley started crying again, shaking fingers clutching at Lauren’s jacket. “But you still really hurt me…”

Ashley nodded slowly. “I… did? I did. I’m sorry! I’m so, so, so sorry! Lauren, I would rather  _ die  _ than hurt you…” Lauren pressed her lips to the top of Ashley’s head in an attempt to calm her down. “I’m fucked up. Fuck, fuck! I love you.” She repeated it several times as if she was trying to convince Lauren.

“I love you too,” Lauren said shakily. And she meant it to the depths of her being.

“Yo,” Dinah interrupted their cute moment. “You gonna tell her, or should I?”

Ashley grumbled. “Oh, Dinah’s gonna come cockblock me now? No fair!”

Dinah stifled a laugh. “What? No! Lauren, please tell her…”

Lauren sighed and nodded. “Alright, fine…” Ashley looked up at her expectantly. “Vero. Ashley, Vero was down here for… weeks… a month!? She dug Lucy up!”

Ashley’s eyes widened. “What!? Oh, no… The fuck!”

“Lauren…”

“Dinah…”

“Let’s just get the fuck out of here,” Dinah said.

Lauren turned to look at Ashley, who was still clinging onto her. “Okay… Ash, babe, do you have the key for the cable car?”

Ashley nodded. “Wait, lemme get a kiss first.” Lauren bit back a smile as Ashley leaned in and kissed Lauren softly. Lauren immediately tasted blood. Ashley tried to deepen it, but Lauren pulled away quickly. She spat and brought her sleeve up, wiping Ashley’s bloodied mouth. She must have been biting her lips. Lauren gave her an apologetic look. Ashley seemed to get the message and reached into her pocket and handed her the cable car keys.

“Good. Thanks.“ Lauren smiled and pointed to the top of a rock wall. “See that over there? That means there’s a direct way out. C’mon.”

“Uh,” Dinah said warily. “There’s no way Ashley is going to make it up there.”

Lauren’s brows furrowed. “Okay. If you can help me up, I can go back and tell the others we’re okay.

“Yeah… Yeah, sounds good.”

Ashley seemed to catch onto what Lauren and Dinah were talking about and clutched onto Lauren tightly. “Wait, you’re leaving me again, Lolo!? We just found each other! We finally got to… I’m finally  _ yours _ .”

Lauren felt insanely guilty. Poor Ashley had been through enough for one night, and now Lauren was going to leave her again. “I have to, Ash. Camz, Ari, and Mani are probably worried sick. Who knows if a Wendigo got to them?”

“Y-You’re right, b-but-” Lauren cut her off by pressing their lips together. It was much more pleasant than before now that the blood was gone. Ashley ran her tongue softly over Lauren’s bottom lip but stopped when Dinah made a gagging noise from near them. Lauren broke the kiss and abruptly flipped Dinah off.

“I’ll meet you at the lodge, okay?” Lauren mumbled. Ashley nodded eagerly. Lauren kissed her one last time, cupping her face and stroking her finger down Ashley’s cheekbone, and let go of her.

Lauren walked over to the rock wall with Dinah right behind her.

“Be careful,” Dinah said.

“You too,” Lauren replied with a sad smile.

Dinah picked Lauren up and boosted her up the wall. Lauren sent one last longing glance towards Ashley and then scampered away.

**06:14**

Ashley felt really weird for thinking so at the time, but  _ damn _ , Lauren had a nice ass. The way it bounced as she climbed up a rock wall in those tight yoga pants-

“Alright, let’s go, you fucked up son of a bitch,” Dinah growled and pulled on Ashley’s arm.

Ashley pulled her arm away from Dinah and glared at her. “You didn’t… you didn’t have to hit me so much, man.”

Her gaze fell to a wooden object on the ground with a bright white eagle carved into it. She knelt down and turned it over.

Ashley saw a bony monster inch towards Lauren, who was hiding behind a wall and hiding her face. She screamed and dropped the talisman.

Ashley found herself to be very pissed off by that. Who the hell would want to hurt Lauren? She’d kill the son of a bitch before that happened.

“Ah, yeah… I’m sorry about before, man. I thought you killed Ally… I was wrong,” Dinah apologized.

She didn’t say anything in response to Dinah. Dinah pushed open the wooden boards that she climbed in through when she found Ashley and guided her through. Ashley stumbled into a weird looking room with a man with a big-ass coat hanging above while the body of Zendaya was shown on the ground.

“Oh, no!” Ashley burst into tears. “I didn’t- I didn’t want you to die!” She limped over to Zendaya. “I didn’t want any of you to die!”

Dinah came back and frowned sympathetically. “C’mon Ash, we gotta go.”

Ashley nodded and followed after Dinah. They reached a small underground lake. Dinah waded into the water with ease. Ashley, on the other hand, was scared shitless. This lake looked shady as hell. Ashley was not going to die because some monster ended up grabbing her and drowning her. Drowning was one of her worst fears, the thought of gallons of water suffocating her, crushing her-

“I know, I know, I know, I know,” Ashley repeated to herself as she followed into the water after Dinah.

Some bony hand grabbed Dinah and pulled her under. Ashley screamed. Dinah struggled to break herself free from the monster’s grasp. “Oh, fu-” She gasped for air.

A big, bony, grotesque creature emerged from the water and screeched right at Ashley.

“No! You’re not real! No, you’re not real!”

The monster grabbed her. Ashley whimpered and looked over at the creature’s shoulder. The creature had a butterfly tattoo. It wasn’t just any butterfly tattoo, though. It was the tattoo that Vero had gotten with Lauren. “Vero!” 

The monster with Vero’s tattoo screeched and picked her up, dragging her away. “Noooooo! Nooo!”

Ashley looked over to where Dinah was. She was hiding behind a rock. Dinah’s neck jiggled furiously.

Something hit her hard on the head. Ashley groaned as her eyes fluttered shut, pulled into unconsciousness once more.

**06:24**

Ally stumbled down another slope. “Oh… crap.” She slammed into a wooden table and whined in pain. Her clumsiness didn’t help her already beaten-up state.

The table had a lantern and a lighter. She picked the lighter up shakily and lit the lantern up. Ally lifted it up and continued walking down the dark mines.

Ally felt so weak and tired. She wished she could sit down and rest, but she had to get out of the mines. She slowly walked down a tunnel and pulled her green miner’s coat to try and cover more of her exposed body. 

There were long trail tracks stretching down the tunnel she was in. On the other side, she saw a small totem. Ally tripped over the metal tracks but made her way over to it. It was a white eagle with a brown snake wrapped around it. She turned it over and looked at it.

An image flashed before her showing Lauren running to a switch and then flicking it, causing Dinah’s body to be incinerated and fall to the ground.

“Lauren… Dinah…” Ally said weakly as she put the totem back down.

Ally made her way down another tunnel and then found herself at a dead end. She cursed quietly as she placed her hands on the wooden board in front of her.

A loud screech was heard behind her.

“Fuck!” Ally cursed and then covered her mouth. “Sorry, God…” she mumbled, ashamed of herself.

Ally stumbled forward and pushed through the wooden boards. She stopped when she found herself at another wooden wall. Ally had no hopes of trying to escape by running. She whimpered and slid between the cracks.

She pressed her back to the wall and hid from the terrifying creature.

The monster screeched and then moved away. Ally groaned and moved from the wall. “It hurts…”

Ally started running again. Well, more like speed-limping, but it didn’t really matter. “Oh, God!” She heard the monster howl an unholy demonic scream. Ally exhaled heavily and held her tiny arms out. She rammed her ragged, broken-down body into another wooden wall. 

Ally’s body slammed against the mine wall. She held her breath as the monster with milky white eyes peered through the boards.

She closed her eyes and waited for the monster to stop looking for her. Eventually, she heard the beast slink away. Ally moved out of the boards and stumbled towards the bright light. She pushed open the door of the mines and stepped out into the cold snow.

Ally smiled gratefully when she saw the lodge in the distance. The sun was just beginning to peep through the trees. Her face lit up with glee. She did it. She had survived until morning.

**06:36**

Lauren grunted as she climbed to a higher section of the wall. Her gaze moved up to the final portion of the wall. It didn’t look too bad. She was so close to getting out of there anyway.

She launched herself up, setting her foot on a niche, and then grabbed a part of the upper wall.

Lauren sprung herself up and grabbed the overhang. Her feet slipped but she was able to still hang onto it with just her hands. Lauren swung her leg around and hugged the overhang before pulling herself up onto the top. “Come on… yes!”

She brushed the dirt off of her hands and walked in the direction of the lodge. The sun was just barely starting to peep through the trees. Dawn would be soon. There were two diverging paths. Lauren took the one on the right and nearly stumbled on something blocking the path. She gasped in delight.

It was a dragonfly totem. A huge dragonfly with red accents carved so ever intricately into the smooth hickory. Lauren reached a hand out to rub the nape of her neck. The dragonfly had a lot of meaning to her since she had seen the insect tons of times when her grandma passed away; that was why she got it tattooed in the location she was massaging when she was sixteen.

Lauren smiled softly and turned it over.

An image flashed before her showing a Wendigo jumping around the lodge and chasing after Camila, Ariana, and Normani.

She shuddered and lightly put it down.

Lauren continued down the path until she reached a giant lake. She groaned. Another freezing lake that she’d have to cross? She cursed under her breath and waded in. Luckily this one wasn’t too deep, she’d rather die than be forced to swim in freezing temperatures. Lauren stopped moving when she heard a loud noise.

She climbed out of the lake and shook herself off. Lauren climbed up to a high ledge and then slid down to the other side, landing hard on her stomach. “Fuck,” she swore.

Lauren got back up on her feet and walked past the Frangipane shed. She smiled sadly when she saw blood on the snow, most likely from the strange man. A loud Wendigo screech was heard and Lauren took off into a run.

“Ah!” Lauren cried as she turned to look behind her to make sure no one was following her. She didn’t see the giant tree log in front of her and smacked right into it. She fell right on her back and groaned, rubbing her now bleeding head. Lauren got back up on her feet and continued running. “Shit!” she climbed up the ledge to scope out the area.

Luckily, no Wendigos were in sight. She jumped down a ledge and started running again.

A broken jar was found in the middle of the path. Lauren lept over it with ease. 

She finally reached the side door of the lodge. Lauren started banging on the locked door in hopes that someone would come to get her. “Hey! Hey! Come on, open up! Guys, come on! Are you in there? Let me in!” Lauren whimpered when she heard another screech.

“Lauren!” Dinah called from behind her. Lauren sighed in relief and spun around.

“Shit, oh gosh, Dinah you look terrible-”  
Dinah grunted. “Gonna look worse if we stay out here, come on!”

Lauren grabbed a rock from the ground and smashed the window of the door. She reached in the newly opened window and unlocked the door from within the lodge. Dinah and Lauren pushed on the door and ran inside.

Dinah used her sawed-off shotgun to barricade the door.

Both of them panted and sighed in relief. “Okay… Dinah… wait, w-what happened to Ash? She was just with you!” Lauren peered out the window in hopes that a blue-haired girl would come running to the door and into her arms.

“It got her,” Dinah replied flatly.

“Ohhh…” Lauren flipped her hair to the side, grinning slightly even though it felt like a Wendigo had reached into her chest and ripped a hole right through her with its sharp claws. “What an awful way to go…”

Dinah raised a brow. “You don’t sound too upset.”

Lauren just shrugged. “You know, when you get conflicting answers about the girl you love and her current state, you just don’t know what to believe anymore.” She sighed. “It’s like the whole ‘boy who cried wolf’ sha-ding, except it’s ‘girl who claimed Ashley is dead’ now.” Lauren made her way to the light switch and turned on the lights to the lodge. “If I start crying again, I’ll put us all in danger.”

Dinah moved to turn the lights back off to the lodge. “Good thinking.” She narrowed her eyes. “Well, not with the lights. The Wendigo could see us.”

“Alright, then what do we do next, Captain?” Lauren asked.

“We should check the basement… might be someone left down there…”

Dinah and Lauren made their way to the cinema room. The lodge seemed so empty and dead. It was hard to believe that just hours ago they all came down to the lodge in hopes that they could have a nice party.

“How you rate our chances of survival?”  
Dinah chuckled dryly. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

Dinah made her way into the hallway near the basement. Lauren watched as she put her hand on the doorknob.

Dinah and Lauren froze when they heard Camila scream. The short brunette came bursting out of the basement door and down the hallway near the cinema room, nearly knocking Dinah over. “Get outta here! Go! Go! Go!” Camila yelled at the top of her lungs and went as fast as she could while limping.

Ariana came running out behind her. “Go! Run!”

Normani came out of the basement behind Ariana. She caught up to Ariana and then shoved her to the side. Ariana let out an “oof” before tripping and falling onto the floor. “Go! Go! We gotta go!” Ariana got back up on her feet and followed Normani out of the hallway.

Dinah ran back behind them. “Run!” she screamed.

Lauren decided to lock the door. The Wendigos would have a tougher time breaking through if she didn’t lock it. Lauren ran over and turned the little thing that locked the door. She turned on her heel and ran back into the Great Room.

Sounds of panic boomed through the lodge as Lauren heard Camila, Ariana, and Normani climb the stairs. When Lauren reached the Great Room, she looked up. All of them were standing very still. Her gaze moved to Dinah, who had her gaze upwards. There was a Wendigo swinging on the lodge’s ceiling decoration. Lauren could see that the Wendigo had a butterfly tattoo.  _ Vero…  _ Lauren clenched her fists and stood there in shock. There was a bullet lodged in the Wendigo’s forehead too. She figured that that was Dinah’s doing.

“Don’t… move…” Dinah warned. “Don’t fucking move a muscle…”

Lauren stared at the Wendi-  _ Vero  _ and winced. Vero snarled at her.

She stayed perfectly still, watching and waiting for Vero to do something to her. She didn’t.

Another movement was heard. Lauren held her breath as another Wendigo jumped into the room. Vero noticed this and screeched loudly. She jumped on top of the Wendigo and tried to decapitate them. The other Wendigo was quicker and rolled to the side before trying to grab Vero. Vero overpowered the Wendigo and threw them into the stairs. Lauren winced as the stairs smashed. Vero then picked up the Wendigo again and flung them to the fireplace. A gas pipe broke in the process.

The Wendigo recovered from Vero’s attack and began climbing up the wall. 

Lauren looked back over to Dinah. Her gaze moved to the leaking pipe, then at a nearby lightbulb, then at the pipe, and then to the light switch near the exit. Brown eyes met green ones. Lauren knew what she was planning on doing. Blowing up the lodge would be the perfect way to end it all. Lauren nodded her head in agreement.

Another Wendigo approached Vero. She grabbed the second Wendigo and threw them away. The first Wendigo climbed to the railing to the upper floor and then jumped at Vero. Vero lunged. The two Wendigos had each other in a headlock. Vero grabbed the other Wendigo by the head and smashed them into the ground. She decapitated the Wendigo and threw their head somewhere in the lodge.

Lauren slowly began to back away. She harshly bit on her own lip and continued stepping back as quietly as she could. Her foot accidentally hit a loose floorboard and it creaked.

Vero screamed in her direction.

Lauren’s gaze moved to Dinah, who was slowly creeping towards the light bulb. Vero was advancing towards her. A shaky breath escaped her as she did her very best not to move. Vero was fucking terrifying.

Dinah let out a grunting noise as she covered the light bulb with her hand. Lauren heard Dinah swear silently before squeezing the light bulb. The glass shattered loudly. Vero whipped her head around and screeched in the direction of Dinah.

Upstairs Camila was slowly backing towards the open door. Lauren looked up. Their gaze met. Camila looked concerned, silently asking her if she should stay. Lauren shook her head and barely pointed her head in the direction of the exit. Camila nodded slowly and backed out the door. Once out of the lodge, Camila took off in a limp-run.

Lauren looked back over at Dinah. Vero was slowly making her way towards her. Dinah looked surprisingly calm.

“Hey!” Lauren shouted. Vero whipped her head around and made an animalistic noise.

As Vero started making her way towards her, she heard Normani swear quietly and back away towards the door. Lauren briefly glanced in her direction. Normani was running out the door by the time she looked back at the monster. Vero kept edging closer to her. Lauren wasn’t sure she could stand still for much longer. She had needed to shudder or shake because of her fear.

Eventually, Vero gave up and turned her back to her. With Vero no longer looking at her, Lauren could easily run to the switch. But the rational part of her mind reminded her that Dinah and Ariana were still in the lodge. She sucked her breath in and moved to hide behind a wall.

From the upper floor, Ariana quietly shuffled to the exit. She looked back into the room one last time and then ran out into the cold.  _ One more person to save,  _ Lauren thought. Vero turned her attention back to Lauren. She crawled over to her, standing oh-so-close to her. Lauren’s breathing was short and ragged. She prayed that Vero wouldn’t take notice of her.

Vero took notice of another Wendigo and moved to go attack it. Lauren lifted her head to look at Dinah. She hadn’t moved much from the light bulb, but she was eyeing the exit determinedly. Lauren, of course, could run to the switch. She’d rather die than be the cause of Dinah’s death. 

Lauren quickly ran for another wall. Vero heard the movement and screeched once again. Dinah slowly began to back towards the exit of the lodge. Her worried gaze was on Lauren. Lauren couldn’t nod her head or make any indication that it was okay, so she just leaned against the wall and shut her eyes.

She could practically  _ feel  _ Vero looking in her direction. Her disgusting head was peering around the corner right at her, poking its grotesque face right near her cheek. If Lauren moved, it would be so obvious that she was there. Another shaky breath escaped her. Vero screeched loudly in her right ear. Lauren wanted to fall to her knees. That damn screech was so loud she was sure that she’d end up having hearing problems in that ear from the future. 

Vero finally left her. Lauren’s gaze moved to the exit. Dinah was gone. She could escape. 

Lauren did what she did best - she ran. Bolting at record speed, Lauren barreled in the direction of the exit of the lodge. She knew that there was a Wendigo right behind her.

She reached her right hand out to flip the switch. It all happened in slow motion for her. Lauren turned her head to see that Vero was lunging towards her attacker and wrapping her disgusting limbs around them-

She almost felt bad when she flipped the switch.  _ Almost.  _ A loud fwoosh was heard and the lodge exploded. The impact caused Lauren to fly into the air and get thrown into the snow right in front of the burning lodge.

“Lauren!” She heard someone scream.  _ Dinah.  _ Her ears were ringing like crazy. Other voices were muffled. 

Dinah grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet. Lauren felt dizzy and confused. She leaned into Dinah and her friend held her close. Next to her, Camila was getting back up on her feet but fell back down. Ariana looked completely wiped out as she sat on the ground. Normani used the nearby picnic table to stand back up. Lauren was in complete shock. The Frangipane Lodge was in complete flames with the sun peeking out from a nearby mountain. If the situation wasn’t so fucked up, it’d make for a great photo opportunity.

_ “We have visual. The main structure is completely destroyed, over.”  _ A pilot in a megaphone was heard above them.

An orange, ghastly spirit whizzed out of the lodge. Lauren clutched onto Dinah as the ghost thing flew right through them.

_ “Hold on… I’m seeing something.” _

The sound of choppers was above them. Lauren looked at Dinah. “We’re saved,” she mouthed. Dinah looked at her adoringly and pressed her lips to Lauren’s bloody cheek.

_ “It looks like there are survivors.” _

The choppers began to descend to their location.

_ “Let’s pick ‘em up.” _


End file.
